Dudley, you're a wizard!
by Dementors hate chocolate
Summary: Dudley gets a letter from Hogwarts. Will his parents let him go? And what will Harry think?
1. Chapter 1 Voldemort arrives

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, although I wish I did!

Chapter 1 Lord Voldemort arrives

"Lily, take Harry and go! It's him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off." James yelled as he ran down the stairs toward the front door where Voldemort was blasting his way into the house. Only one thing was running through James' mind as he rushed toward the door- saving his family.

James looked over his shoulder as he ran - Lily was still standing there at the top of the stairs, staring at him with a blank expression on her face. One minute they were sitting in Harry's room, reading him a bedtime story, and the next, the Fidelius charm was broken and James was running from the room.

Then Lily looked at him. Their eyes met, and James said, "Don't worry Lily, everything will be alright; I love you." Lily whispered, "I love you, too, James!" before she fled back into Harry's room.

Harry was sitting in his crib, holding a toy hippogriff Sirius had given him for his birthday. He smiled at her when she came into view and put up his arms for a hug.

A flash of green light from downstairs reflected off the white hallway and grief pierced through Lily's heart as she realized she was alone now; James was gone. Silent tears streamed down her face as she rushed to Harry and gathered him in her arms. What was she going to do? There was nowhere to go, nowhere to hide... and she had left her wand in her and James' bedroom.

Then suddenly there he was in the doorway...Voldemort, his cruel eyes staring at her and mouth curled in an evil smirk. Lily forced herself not to think that that face was the last thing James ever saw. Oh, James! Lily thought. What can I do?

"Get out of the way, girl!" Voldemort said, standing there with his wand held out, pointing at Harry.

"No," Lily whispered and shook her head. "Take me, kill me instead."

"Stand aside, you silly girl. Don't be a fool! Stand aside NOW!"

"Not Harry, please not Harry, have mercy, have mercy!" Lily started sobbing.

"Fine, if your wish is to DIE like your fool of a husband, then so be it!"

Lily watched as he raised his wand. She heard James' voice in the back of her head whispering, "Harry. Lily, protect Harry". But how, she thought, how? Then she remembered an ancient charm she once read about and knew what she must do. She hugged Harry in her arms, shielding him from Voldemort, and kissed him, saying softly, "Don't ever forget us Harry, we'll always love you." She stood up straight and tall and brave in front of Voldemort and looked right into his cruel eyes as he screamed "Avada kedavra!"

There was a flash of green light and the woman fell to the floor, dead, her eyes still wide open.

The baby started to cry where he lay, still embraced in his mother's arms. Voldemort regarded it with amusement. How could anyone have ever thought that this child could ever defeat him, the Dark Lord, the most powerful wizard who ever lived? Well,they were wrong.

Lord Voldemort raised his wand, pointed it at the boy, and screamed "Avada kedavra!"


	2. Chapter 2 Sirius learns of the attack

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

Chapter 2 Sirius learns of the attack

Sirius Black had just arrived back home to his apartment after a difficult mission for Dumbedore.

Dumbledore had sent Sirius and some other members of the Order of the Phoenix to protect a muggle town that several Death Eaters were going to attack. They were to track down the Death Eaters who were planning the attack and stop them before they completed their plans. It was a successful mission, what with the capture of several very dangerous Death Eaters, although it was one that took several days and didn't allow for much sleep on the Order member's part.

Sirius was quite happy for once to have the fighting over and done with and go back home to rest for a few days, maybe take his motorcycle for a ride and check out some local muggle girls. He closed the front door and put a couple of protective enchantments on it to stop intruders. He stumbled tiredly to his bedroom and was debating whether to change his fithly clothes, or just go right to bed, when a bright light shaped like a phoenix appeared in the middle of his room.

Sirius was suddenly more alert then he had been all night. What could have happened now? Was it another mission? An azkaban breakout? Or something even worse... a friend dead?

The phoenix's mouth opened and Dumbledore's voice issued from it, sounding a bit sad.

"Sirius, I'm sorry to tell you this after such a difficult and tiring mission, but Lily and James have been attacked by Lord Voldemort. They did not survive."

"No!" Sirius screamed as he fell to his knees on the floor. "NO!"

Dumbledore's message continued after a pause." Someone had informed Lord Voldemort where they were hidden; I suspect it was Mr. Pettigrew, the Secret-Keeper. I was notified by one of the Order that Mr. Pettigrew was seen attending a Death Eater meeting a few days before the attack. I believe they threatened his life in order to force him to reveal the location of Lily and James."

Sirius sat there on the floor, stunned. Damn Peter! He always was a coward, loyal only to those who could protect him. Well, Sirius thought wryly, it looked like Peter had predicted that Dumbledore and the Order would fall and had gone to Voldemort with this information about the Potters so he would be welcomed and protected. How could he do this to James? How could he betray them like this? It was all his, Sirius' fault! HE had been the Secret-Keeper, HE had persuaded Lily and James to make Peter the Secret-Keeper at the last moment. He should have known Peter was too much of a coward to die for his friends and a cause he believed in.

Sirius stood up, desperate to go to the Potter's house, to see for himself the damage. It couldn't be true, Dumbledore was wrong. Even as Sirius thought this, deep down he knew it was true; Lily and James were dead, and it was his fault. He grabbed his wand fom the dresser where he had left it and raced to the door . Just as he opened it to leave, the last part of the message was repeated. "And Sirius... Harry is still alive.


	3. Chapter 3 Harry goes to the Durselys

Chapter 3 Harry goes to the Dursleys

Sirius apparated to Godric's Hallow.

The Potter's house was copmpletely destroyed. Pieces of brick and rubble from the house were all over the street. Order members were already there, clearing the mess.

Sirius heard whispers as he walked through the destruction;

"..rebounded and just blasted the house apart.."

"...I can't believe he's gone..."

"...terrible thing..."

Sirius spotted Dedalus Diggle in the darkness, a member of the Order that he didn't know too well, but had seen at Order meetings, and asked him what happened.

Diggle replied, "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named tried to use the Killing Curse on the Potter's son... and for some reason the curse rebounded upon him and he was killed. Can you believe it? He's gone!"

Diggle's small smile disappeared and he stopped speaking when he saw the expression on Sirius' face.

Sirius walked past Diggle to the house and put his hand on the front gate. The Fidelius charm was gone now because the people it was put in place to protect were gone. Forever.

You have to find Harry. Sirius thought to himself. He continued on through the gate to where the front door should've been. It was all gone... a note appeared suddenly on the stoop as if Sirius' presence made it become visible. He picked it up. It read,

Sirius,

I have had Hagrid come and collect Harry before everyone else arrived. Hagrid is bringing him to his Aunt and Uncle's house. If you will kindly meet Hagrid and I at Number 4 Privet Drive in Surrey, I will further explain the situation to you.

Yours Sincerely,

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore.

Lily had rarely spoke of her sister and brother-in-law, and when she did, she was always upset. She said that they hated magic and everything in the magical world. They wouldn't speak to Lily and James, no matter how many letters Lily wrote to them, desperate for contact with her sister. Harry could not be allowed to stay with them.

Sirius sent a patronus message to Remus Lupin to let him know what happened, then disapparated to Privet Drive. A huge, hairy figure was standing in front of a house a short way down the street. Number 4.

Sirius started toward the figure just as Dumbledore apparated next to Hagrid, his long white beard shining in the moonlight.

"Dumbledore!" Sirius shouted angrily.

"Sirius, I must ask you to lower your voice, lest you wake the muggles!" Dumbledore said sternly. Then he turned to Hagrid and said gently, "Hagrid, do you have him?"

"Yes, Professor Dumbledore sir, got him right here." Hagrid replied as he pulled a bundle of blankets from under his moleskin coat. Inside was the baby Harry. Sirius looked at his face. There was a lightning-shaped scar on his forehead.

"Can't that be removed?" Sirius said harshly to Dumbledore.

"I'm afraid not. He will have that scar forever. That is the mark the Killing Curse left on him, and it might come in handy some day." Dumbledore said as he took Harry from Hagrid, and began walking toward the Dursley's front stoop.

"Wait, what are you doing? You can't leave him here with these muggles! They despise magic! Lily's told me about them!" Sirius spat angrily. "He's coming with me! I'm his godfather!"

"I'm sorry, Sirius, but he must stay here. There is an ancient charm that protects him, but it will not work if he does not reside here. Lord Voldemort was destroyed when the Killing Curse rebounded, but his followers are still very much alive. I suspect it will take some time to round them all up and until that time I think it would be best if Harry stays here. The Death Eaters might want revenge on the Boy Who Lived for destroying their master."

"What are you talking about? What charm?" Sirius frowned.

"To perform this ancient charm, to create this protection, the sacrificing person must be given the option to live, but chose not to in order to save the other person. It is a charm of love. It prevents Lord Voldemort, or his Death Eaters, from being able to harm Harry while he is in a blood relative's home. However, they must accept Harry and take him in. This bond of blood will prevent Lord Voldemort from finding Harry until he moves out or turns 17." Dumbledore explained.

Remus Lupin suddenly apparated beside Sirius. He was out of breath and very pale.

"Sirius, I just got your message. Harry's safe?"

"Yes, but he needs to stay here with his aunt."

"With the muggles? why?" Remus asked.

"It's a protection charm that only works when you're with your blood relatives." Sirius responded sourly. He would give anything to be a blood relative of Harry's right now.

"You will be able to visit him as often as you wish, and he will go to Hogwarts someday. He won't be cut off from the magical world. I have explained everything to Harry's aunt in a letter. When he gets older, everything will be explained to him." Dumbledore gently placed Harry on the doorstep with the letter, and all four of them, Hagrid, Remus, Sirius, and Dumbledore stood staring for a minute at the small bundle. Hagrid blew his nose into a blanket sized hankerchief.

"Well," Dumbledore said, "They will receive a surprise in the morning. Good- night, everyone."

Dumbledore's vibrant blue eyes sparkled as he looked at Sirius. "Sirius, do not blame yourself for what happened. It was not your fault." And with that, the tall wizard strode off into the night and vanished with a swish of his cloak. Hagrid sniffled as he too left. Then it was just Remus and Sirius standing there, looking lost. They had just lost two of their best friends, and their son wouldn't be allowed to stay with Sirius, his godfather, and instead had to stay with magic-hating muggles...

"Sirius, we should go, we can't stay here all night." Remus said, his voice breaking.

"Yeah, I know," Sirius said, but he didn't move.

"I need to go." Remus said, taking a deep breath. "Night, Sirius."

And then it was just Sirius, standing alone on the Dursley's lush green lawn. He felt like collapsing right there on the spot and waiting until morning with Harry, but he knew he shouldn't. He would come back in the morning. With one last look at Harry, he walked away from the house and disapparated.

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	4. Chapter 4 Ten years later

Chapter 4 Ten years later, June 22

Harry had been living with the Dursleys for the past ten years. Sirius visited everyday to make sure Harry was being treated well and to see if he needed anything. Petunia enjoyed having her nephew stay with her, as it was a way to remember her sister, but tried not to show it in front of Vernon, who still hated Harry. Though he dared not try anything with Sirius visiting everyday. Dudley and Harry had become friends, despite Vernon's constant scorning of Harry. Vernon looks forward to the day when the Potter boy is going to be removed from his perfect house. And today is that day.

The hot summer sun beat upon Sirius' back as he crossed the street to Number 4 Privet Drive. He had a great surprise for Harry. Sirius whistled happily as he strolled, thinking of the expression that was going to be on Harry's face in a few minutes.

As Sirius entered the Dursley's house, he heard shouting from the kitchen. It seemed as though Piers Polkiss, who was a scrawny local bully with a face like a rat, and his gang had been picking on Harry again, and Dudley had stepped in to defend him, getting a black eye in the process.

"Dudley, I told you to leave the boy alone." Vernon was screaming. "Let him fight his own fights. Let him take care of himself. You would think with his... abnormality... he would be able to defend himself. Or else his bloody godfather would."

"But Dad... it was four against one." Dudley mumbled, standing in front of his father. He had recently grown a lot and he was using this to his advantage to defend Harry, who was constantly being tormented by bullies, and was not nearly as tall or strong as Dudley yet.

"I don't bloody well care if it was ten to one. Now look at your face. What are people going to think?" Vernon barked angrily, spraying spit all over the table, his gigantic face like a beet with as mustache.

Sirius stepped into the kitchen. Petunia was standing by the stove, cooking, and not eager at all to join the conversation. Vernon and Dudley had been growing apart as Dudley and Harry had been growing closer, and she did not want any part of it. She had accepted Harry, but Vernon had not.

Vernon was sitting at the table, his face a horrible purple color, yelling at Dudley, who was standing in front of him, sporting a brilliant black eye.

Harry was no where to be seen.

"Good morning, everyone." Sirius said pleasantly, causing all the Dursleys to jump and look around.

Uncle Vernon barely tolerated Sirius presence in the house, but he was afraid of what Sirius might do if he forbade him to come in, although he tried not to show his was a long ten years for Sirius to try to stay on the Dursley's good side, and now it was finally over. Dudley gave him a small grimace and rolled his eyes at his father.

"Good morning for some, I suppose," Vernon growled, turning back to his son. "Dudley, go upstairs and put something on that bruise."

As Dudley started toward the stairs, Sirius asked him as he passed, "Where's Harry?"

"In his room." Dudley replied quietly.

As they climbed the stairs, Sirius said to Dudley, "What you did wasn't wrong, no matter what your father says. It was a brave thing to do, standing up for someone else."

Dudley gave him a small smile and said, "Thanks, Sirius." as he turned into the bathroom.

Harry's door was closed. Sirius gave a light knock.

"What, come to yell at me some more?" came Harry's voice through the door, sounding very annoyed.

Sirius opened the door and said, "It's me. You're getting a bit loose with your tongue, aren't you?"

Harry was sitting at his desk, face turned away from Sirius. "Well, wouldn't you if you just had to survive through an hour of Uncle Vernon's yelling? He said that I looked too vulnerable and I was getting Dudley hurt. Like it's my fault that people decide to punch me. I suppose you heard what happened today."

"Yeah, I heard. Harry, look at me."

When Harry didn't respond, Sirius walked over and grabbed Harry's chin, turning his face toward him. He had several red welts and bruises across his skinny face.

"Well, I guess Dudley arrived a little late," Sirius joked. Harry jerked his face from Sirius' grip and looked out the window.

Sirius pulled out his wand, pointed it at Harry's face, and instantly healed the bruises there.

"I know it's hard when you're different, Harry. My whole family put me down because I was different from them, but soon you won't have to worry about those boys anymore." Sirius said with a smile.

"Why, are they going somewhere?" Harry asked sarcastically.

"No, but you are. You're coming home with me. Harry, they finally caught Bellatrix Lestrange. She's in Azkaban. No one can come after you now!"

"Are you serious?" Harry asked, stunned.

"What, now you forgot my name? Of course I'm Sirius." Sirius replied with a grin.

Harry jumped up and started whooping. "Yessss!"

Dudley came to the open door and said, "Harry, what's going on?"

"Dudley, they finally caught Bellatrix! I'm going with Sirius!" Harry said, dancing around the room.

Dudley's face fell. "You're leaving?"

"Yeah." Harry said happily. He started pulling clothes out of his closet and said to Sirius, "It'll only take me a few minutes to pack."

"Hold on, Harry! We can't leave right now!" Sirius laughed. "I have to make some arrangements first."

"Well, I'll start packing anyway, that way I'll be ready to leave as soon as possible." Harry replied.

"I'm going to go tell your aunt, Harry, and then I'm bringing you to Diagon Ally. You can finally visit, after all the times I promised to bring you, now that Bellatrix is in Azkaban. I have a special present in mind for this occasion." Sirius winked, leaving the room.

Dudley sat on the edge of Harry's bed and swung his legs back and forth. "So, are you ever going to visit?"

Harry looked up from where he was kneeling in the closet, feeling around to see if there was anything left on the floor. He sat beside Dudley on the bed and said, "Course I will, Dud. You're my best friend. All those times you stood up for me and all when no one else would. Thanks."

"Thank you for telling me about magic. If my parents knew how much I knew..." He laughed nervously.

"Don't worry, I'll visit, and when I go to Hogwarts, I'll send you some magical things! And since it's your birthday tommorow, we could have a party before I leave."

"I guess."

"WHOOHOO!" They heard Vernon yell from downstairs.

"Looks like Sirius told them I'm going to be leaving." Harry said.

"Yeah."

"Chin up, Dud. It'll be fine. Maybe you'll even make friends now that you're not gonna be hanging out with that 'weird potter kid' anymore." Harry said, grinning.

"Maybe," Dudley smiled back.

It was later on in the day. Sirius and Harry were in the Leaky Cauldron, getting ready to pass through to Diagon Ally.

Dudley had wanted to come, but Sirius didn't think it was a good idea... Uncle Vernon wound probably explode with anger if his son asked to visit such a place.

They passed through the bar and out into a small, walled courtyard, where there was nothing but a trash can and a few weeds. Sirius tapped the brick wall three times with his wand. A small hole appeared in the middle of the wall, growing bigger and bigger every second until finally there was an archway big enough for them to fit through, an archway onto a cobbled street that twisted and turned out of sight.

Sirius had Harry cover his eyes as he led him past all the little shops until they came to Eeylops' Owl Emporium.

"Ok. I'm going to get you an owl, Harry. That way you could write to Dudley whenever you want."

"He's pretty upset about me leaving..." Harry said, with a troubled look on his face, as they entered the shop. "Maybe we could throw a party for his birthday tomorrow."

"Sounds good." Sirius said. "So, which owl do you want?" Harry looked around at the cages piled up to the ceiling, each of them containing owls of every shape and color. Piercing yellow eyes and soft rustlings followed Harry as he walked past the stacks of cages. A soft white owl caught his eye. She gave him a meaningful look before tucking her head under her wing.

The shop owner said,"That's Hedwig. Beautiful, isn't she? She's a snowy owl. Rare, those are."

"I'll take her." Harry grinned.

Back at Privet Drive, where Harry was to stay that night because Sirius just had to make a few last arrangements, Harry was showing off his new snowy owl, Hedwig, to Dudley in his room.

"Now I can write to you all the time, and you can write back. Sirius said you just have to tie the letter to her leg, and she'll find me wherever I am!"

"Dudley, time for bed!" Aunt Petunia shrieked from downstairs.

"I'd better go before Dad has a fit. He doesn't like me interacting with you. The 'm' word... it'll rot my brain..." and with that Dudley rolled his eyes back, put his arms straight in front of him as if he were a zombie and left the room.

"Harry, wake up! Harry! HARRY!" Harry opened his eyes and stared blurrily up at Dudley, who was roughly shaking him awake. The room was pitch black. The clock read 4:00 in the morning.

"What is wrong with you?" Harry asked, staring. Dudley was sweating, his face was pale and he looked like he was going to pass out. He shakily held out a opened letter that was clutched tightly in his hand. It was a thick, yellowish parchment with a purple seal on it... the Hogwart's seal! Sirius had showed it to him on his own letter from Hogwarts.

"That's weird, why would they send me my letter early? My birthday's next month!"

"Because it's not for you... it's for me!" Dudley whispered. He looked terrified.

"What?" Harry was suddenly awake and alert. He jumped up, flipped on the light, and grabbed the letter from Dudley. Sure enough, the letter stated,

Dear Mr. Dursley,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress.

"Wow..." Harry whispered, and handed the letter back to his cousin.

"What am I going to do? I can't go, my parents will kill me." Dudley said, breathing heavily and crushing the letter in his fist. He sank to the floor next to Harry's bed.

"I never knew that you were magic. You've never done anything magical... have you? Sirius said that you do magic when you're upset or angry." Harry said.

"I'm not sure..."

Both boys sat thinking for a moment until Harry broke the silence.

"What about that time Aunt Petunia tried to make you wear those horrible pink bunny pajamas that Aunt Marge sent for your fifth birthday? And they shrunk until they could only fit a doll? Or when Piers Polkiss' gang ripped up all your homework, and when you pulled it out to show the teacher, it was as good as new? You never could explain how those things happened."

"Yeah. I remember that. What about when Mum cut your hair and it was all choppy and you were afraid what the boys at school would do, then the next day, it had grown back? She was so confused when she saw you the next morning!" Dudley laughed.

And the two boys sat there, laughing and recalling times when they had done magic without knowing it. Just as the sun was peeking over the horizon, Hedwig knocked on the closed window with her claw and Harry and Dudley looked up. She had been out hunting. Harry opened the window to let her in. She flew to her open cage, landed on her perch, and turned around to watch the boys with her yellow eyes.

Dudley said, "Seriously, what am I going to do, though, Harry? I can't just walk in to my parents and say that I'm a wizard."

"I suppose we could talk to Sirius first, and get his opinion." Harry said thoughtfully. "Look, Dudley, we'll figure it out. You'd better go back to your room before your dad get up, or he'll be yelling at you again for talking to me. We can ask Sirius later about the letter."

"Alright." Stopping in the doorway, Dudley looked back at Harry, and grinned. "I'm a wizard!"

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	5. Chapter 5 Dudley's a wizard

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry.

**Thanks to Dracarot for reviewing! Thanks to Woef, Franv, Qtelatino1, and Daughterof Lillyand SeaGod for adding my story to your favorites. Thanks to Nanettez,Linzbinz84, pancakeeatbatman {love that name!}, ksmith092, katsuko1978, , kurai-namikaze, and Dracarot for adding this to your story alert. **

Chapter 5 Dudley's a wizard

Dudley took a deep breath and looked at Harry for support. Harry smiled at him.

They were standing outside the Dursely's kitchen with Sirius, and Dudley was trying to work up the courage to tell his parents about the letter he had received early that morning.

The Dursleys were sitting at the table; Vernon was reading the morning paper, and Petunia was picking at her scrambled eggs and toast.

"Mum, Dad. I got this in the mail last night." Dudley began.

"There is no post at night, Dudley." Petunia said.

"In the wizarding world there is."

"Blast it, boy, what are you going on about?" Vernon said sharply. Dudley simply held out the Hogwarts letter to his father. Vernon's face went from red to green to the grayish white color of old porridge within seconds as he read the letter.

"P-p-petunia," he gasped. Petunia took the letter from Vernon and read the first line curiously. She looked as if she might faint, as she clutched her throat and made a choking noise.

"Vernon, oh my goodness, Vernon."

"Is this some kind of sick joke?" Vernon spat at Sirius, who was leaning against the counter watching their reactions closely.

"Nope. No joke. Your son is a wizard."

"How could this be?" Petunia wailed.

"I would think it would be obvious to you," Sirius said to Petunia. "Your sister was a witch. The magic must have passed through you on to Dudley."

"Impossible!" Vernon shouted.

"No, it's not. And if you can't accept it, then I don't know what to tell you." Sirius said, losing his patience.

"I know what I'll tell you, you freak; he's not going! He will be attending a private school, Smeltings, in September." Vernon yelled.

"He won't be able to learn how to control his powers at Smeltings, though. At Hogwarts he'll be under the greatest headmaster Hogwarts has ever had, Albus Dumbledore." Sirius said.

"I AM NOT PAYING FOR SOME CRACK POT OLD FOOL TO TEACH HIM MAGIC TRICKS!"

"If you don't want to send him to Hogwarts, fine, but it doesn't matter if he goes or not," Sirius said calmly. "He's still going to be a wizard. Hogwarts helps young wizards and witches to learn how to use magic."

"Dad, I want to go." Dudley said quietly.

"Listen here, boy," Vernon said menacingly, standing up from the table. "I don't care what you want; all of this is a result of you spending so much time with Potter. Now you've become a abnormal freak just like him."

Sirius moved to stand protectively in front of Dudley while Harry watched from the kitchen doorway.

"Harry is NOT a freak, he's my best friend, and if you think I'm a freak, I guess I don't belong here anymore." Dudley said defiantly.

Petunia gasped from where she was sitting at the table.

"I am going to go to Hogwarts and a great muggle like you can't stop me." Dudley ran from the room and they heard him pounding up the stairs. Harry followed right behind him.

"Magic is a gift for muggleborns." Sirius said, "You can't just squash it out of him, it's always going to be there. Why don't you think about that, and consider letting your son attend Hogwarts?"

Sirius left Vernon standing there, puffed out and angry, and Petunia pale and leaning against the table for support.

Dudley was in his room, pacing back and forth while Harry sat on the bed watching him.

"What am I going to do? Where can I go? I know they aren't going to want me anymore now that I'm a wizard. Maybe Mum will let me go. Dad'll kill me though, if I do." Dudley was spitting out every single thought that popped into his mind.

"Calm down, I'm sure Sirius will convince them to let you go." Harry said.

"I don't know if I can, Harry." Sirius said walking in. "Their mind is pretty made up."

"He can come with us, then!" Harry said brightly.

"Whoa, hold on." Sirius said, holding his hands up. "I can't just take Dudley with us, that would be kidnaping."

"Not if I want to go with you." Dudley said.

Vernon suddenly appeared in the doorway and said, "If you want to go to that ruddy school, go, but don't expect to have a place to come back to when you go on holiday."

"I'm going." Dudley said defiantly. "And if you don't like it I'll go live with Harry and Sirius."

"Go on, then, boy, and pack. Go and turn your back on your family."

"Vernon, no." Petunia had crept up behind him and had been listening to the conversation. She couldn't be seen behind Vernon's massive bulk, but she continued talking to Dudley.

"You can go to Hogwarts and you will stay here. We will accept this. I have accepted Harry. The truth is, when I was a girl and my sister got the letter, I was so jealous and I wanted to go to Hogwarts too, but I couldn't because I wasn't a witch. I even wrote a letter to Professor Dumbledore, begging him to let me come to the school. Lily knew how much I wanted to go; she saw Dumbledore's reply. She even offered to talk him into letting me come. But it was impossible. From that moment on, I hated my sister because she was a witch and I wasn't. Every summer when she came home, she would always hang out with that Snape boy talking about magic, and I was left alone. I missed my sister. But I was still jealous. I would have given anything to have gone with her to Hogwarts. But I couldn't." Petunia sighed softly. "Dudley, I want you to have the chance to go to Hogwarts that I never had. I won't deny you that."

"Oho, but I will. He is not going while he lives under this roof!"

"I disagree, Vernon. And if that is how you feel, you will lose both your son and your wife. I have tried to ignore everything you have said to Harry but I can't take it if you started talking to Dudley like you talk to Harry. He's your son. I don't know what else to say."

Harry And Dudley were staring at Petunia; they had never heard her talk about Lily before, and she had never spoken this way to Vernon.

Vernon suddenly walked away, pulling Petunia with him.

"Dudley!" Vernon called. Dudley reluctantly followed his parents.

Sirius plopped into Harry's desk chair. He was tired of fighting with the Dursleys about the wizarding world. He had had to do that enough in the beginning when he came to visit Harry that morning ten years ago, the night after Lily and James died, the night Harry became an orphan. Sirius' eyes glazed over as he recalled what happened.

Sirius had been ready to knock on the front door when Vernon opened it from the other side. He was screaming, his face an ugly puce.

"Petunia, I will not have a freak living under my roof. Put him back out here and we'll call the orphanage to pick him up." Petunia said something from inside. Vernon couldn't understand her due to the fact that she was sobbing uncontrolablly. Sirius said, "Excuse me, sir."

Vernon whirled around on the stoop, almost knocking Sirius down the steps.

"We don't want to buy anything today, go away."

"I'm not here to sell anything. I want to talk to you about Harry."

"Harry?" Vernon blinked confusedly. "Who's that?"

"You're nephew." Sirius said, pointing at the bundle in Petunia's arms. She had come to the door to see who Vernon was talking to.

"Oh, you've come to take him, have you? Good. Go on and take him then." Vernon said.

"No, I've come to explain.. maybe I could come in..." he pushed his way past Vernon's enormous girth and into the sitting room.

"Sit down, please," Sirius said, gesturing towards the couch. Petunia and Vernon were staring open mouthed at him. How rude could someone be to push their way into somebody else's house!

Petunia dazedly shook her head, went into the sitting room and sat down, Harry still in her arms. Vernon trailed after her reluctantly.

"May I have Harry, please." Sirius was afraid what Vernon might do if he got a hold of Harry. Sirius took him gingerly from Petunia's outstretched arms. He took out his wand, conjured up a basinet and placed Harry inside. Then he plopped down next to Petunia.

"You're one of them!" Vernon blustered. "Get out of my house."

"I am not leaving until I have my say," Sirius said firmly. "Harry must stay with you. If he leaves, he might be killed by the supporters of the man who killed his parents." Petunia gave a small sob. She was clearly upset about her sister's death. Sirius transfigured one of the throw pillows on the couch into a small pink hankerchief and handed it to her.

"Vernon, please let him stay." Petunia said, wiping her eyes.

"He won't have to stay here forever, only until the Death Eat... I mean, criminals are caught." Sirius said.

"Vernon, please, he's all I have left of Lily... " Petunia wailed, jumping up from the couch and grabbing Vernon's hands pleadingly.

"Very well, if it's not for long..." Vernon said, looking away from Petunia's red eyes..

"Who are you anyway?" Petunia asked, turning to Sirius.

"I am Harry's godfather."

"Why can't he stay with you, then?" Vernon said angrily, starting up again.

"Vernon, calm down, it was in the letter, if you read it before you ripped it up... I understand why..." Petunia said before Sirius could reply.

"I will be in to check up on Harry quite frequently; don't try getting rid of him, or I'll know. I'll be in touch." Sirius got up and Petunia followed him to the front door.

"Thank you, for convincing him." Petunia gave him a smile.

"No problem. Harry will be okay here, won't he?" Sirius gave her a worried look.

"Yes, he will. I will watch out for him. He is the only thing I have left of Lily. I did a terrible thing to her; I turned my back on her when she got that letter from Hogwarts and continued ignoring her until she graduated and left home. I've regretted it for years. I never knew how to respond to her letters; how could she could forgive me for the way I treated her? And now it's too late." A few tears dripped from her nose onto her blouse.

"It is not too late. Remember her by protecting Harry." Sirius said fiercely. "And if your husband tries anything, just call me, and I'll try to reason with him."

"Sirius," Harry was shaking his shoulder vigorously.

"Sorry, Harry, I was thinking about something... " Sirius said, shaking his head. "What's wrong?"

Harry pointed toward the hall. There was alot of shouting coming from the next room, done mostly by Vernon.

Vernon stomped heavily to the doorway, pointed menacingly at Sirius and yelled ,"I want both you and that boy out of my house now. You and your freakishness have ruined my life, and now my son has become one of you." They heard him stomp down the stairs and slam the front door.

Harry and Sirius sat looking each other for a few moments, listening to Petunia and Dudley talking quietly in the other room.

"Well, Harry, I hope you're all packed!" Sirius joked, trying to break the tense silence. Petunia came in with Dudley a few minutes later, an arm around his shoulders.

"Sirius, I wonder if you could possibly do me a favor. Could you take Dudley with you for a little while until I can reason with Vernon? I really would like Dudley to attend but I'm afraid that Vernon won't hear of it."

"I guess I could. I mean, you've watched Harry for me for ten years. I could watch Dudley now."

"Thank you so much." Petunia said weakly. "Dudley, go pack some of your things; you can stay with Sirius until we get this sorted out."

"Harry, why don't you go help him?" Sirius said, motioning towards the door. Petunia came over and sat on the edge of the bed and Sirius slid his chair closer to her.

"Petunia," Sirius said quietly, as the two boys left, "If you don't mind me giving my opinion," She gave him a small nod. "I don't think Vernon will ever let Dudley go to Hogwarts. If you want, he could stay with me during the holidays if you can't convince Vernon. You can come visit him."

"I don't know if I could go against Vernon's wishes like that."

"Petunia, I think it would be best for Dudley to go, no matter what Vernon thinks."

"He's always been prejudiced against anything different." Petunia sighed. "I guess you're right, but I don't know what he's going to do when he finds out. Yes, I want him to go."

"So," Sirius said, standing up. "I think we should go before your husband gets back."

"Boys!" Sirius called, as Petunia discreetly wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her blouse. Dudley was dragging a suitcase behind him.

"Harry do you have everything?" "Yeah. It's in the corner." Harry said, gesturing toward two small suitcases Sirius had lent him.

"Petunia, here's my address if you need to contact me. I live in London, on the same street as the Leaky Cauldron. You can write a letter and send it by muggle post, or you can come visit if you want." They heard a car pull into the drive way.

"Oh, that's Vernon. You should go." Sirius pointed his wand at the suitcases and Hedwig's cage where she was sleeping and they disappeared.

"They'll be at my house waiting for us." Sirius explained. Dudley went over and hugged his mother tightly. She wouldn't let him go and after a minute Dudley said, "Mum, I have to go."

"Right, Right, go on then, Dudders." Petunia sniffled. Dudley smiled at his mum's old pet name for him.

"I'm going to take you by side along apparation. It's going to feel strange, so get ready." Sirius said, wanting to leave before Vernon came back inside. He didn't want another fight.

Petunia gave Harry a hug, too and said, "Take care, Harry."

"Harry, grab my right arm, Dudley, grab my left." Sirius spun on the spot and all three disappeared from the room.

And then Petunia stood alone, wondering where everything went wrong.

**Please review! You know you want to! Go on! Press the blue button at the bottom of the story!**


	6. The Accident

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harrry!**

**Thanks to Honoria Granger and Lun Yokune{Please don't sic your rabid bunnies on me!} for reviewing, to Never-ending magic, Lun Yokune, and Honoria Granger for adding this story to your favorites, and to Never-ending magic, Lun Yokune, shortmeanone,lostinloliness, and ficlover08 for adding this to your story alert.**

It was a couple weeks after the Great Dursley Episode, as Sirius refers to it, and Harry and Dudley were making themselves at home in Sirius' small apartment. There was only one bedroom, which was Sirius', so Sirius had conjured up bunk beds and they were kept in the living room. It was a little tight, but the boys seemed happy.

Harry and Dudley were free to talk about magic and Hogwarts and what they were going to learn without being worried about Vernon yelling at them. Harry was more carefree than Sirius had ever seen him, as there was no Vernon to glare at him every time he came into a room, and no Piers Polkiss to beat up on him.

Sirius would tell Dudley and Harry stories about his days at Hogwarts, of the pranks he and James played, and their faces would always light up when he talked about quidditch.

"Who knows, Harry? You might be a great player just like you're father was!" Sirius said, thinking of when he and James used to play quidditch, whipping through the air on their broomsticks, while Remus, Peter and Lily watched from the stands.

They still had not heard anything from Petunia. Dudley would eagerly check the mail slot each morning, hoping to receive a letter from his mother, and every morning he was disappointed.

Then, a few weeks after the Great Dursley Episode, a letter arrived. Sirius was frying bacon in the kitchen and Harry was eating a bowl of cereal when Dudley came in with it.

"It's from Mum." Dudley shouted excitedly.

"Well, open it up and see what it says." Sirius said, dumping the bacon onto a plate.

Dudley tore the envelope open, cleared his throat and began reading aloud. "Dear Dudley, I am coming to visit today. I'll be there around 4:00 in the afternoon. I have a surprise for you, too. See you then, Diddykins! Love, Mum."

"That's great! But Dudley, she might come with bad news...maybe she couldn't convince Uncle Vernon to let you go." Harry said.

"I don't care! She's really coming!" Dudley said.

For the rest of the day , Dudley couldn't focus on anything. He got up and walked away in the middle of a board game he was playing with Harry to look out the window even though it was only 2:00. He was so excited that he couldn't even eat lunch. Finally, at 3:50, he said he was going outside to wait for his mother. Harry went with him.

They sat on the hot cement and leaned against the brick apartment building, watching the passerby. Harry and Dudley often sat for hours doing this, because they would always see wizards and witches on their way to the Leaky Cauldron, to go through to Diagon Alley. It was always interesting to see the wizards who had tried to dress in muggle attire but had failed miserably. There was an old wizard who once walked past wearing a women's pink frilly nightgown and rubber boots. Another time a witch passed by wearing a short green dress with purple trousers and a construction helmet.

Dudley glanced up every time a car passed by, watching for Petunia's small blue car. Finally, it came around the corner, just as a big white delivery truck went through a red stoplight.

The boys watched in horror as the truck collided with Petunia's car and smashed it into the side of the building. Dudley screamed, "Mum!" and he made the delivery truck explode.

Harry grabbed Dudley by the arm before he could run over and yelled for Sirius. Dudley, being bigger and stronger than Harry, was practically dragging Harry as he tried to hold him back.

There was smoke in the air from the truck, which was on fire. Bits of the truck and rubble from the building were scattered all over the street. Pedestrians starting gathering, gawking at the accident.

Sirius was suddenly besides them, and he asked Harry urgently, "What happened?"

"The truck, it just plowed into Aunt Petunia." Harry said in shock. His face was filthy from the smoke, as was Dudley's, and they had cuts on their faces from the shrapnel that had exploded from the truck.

"Stay here." Sirius said to them.

"But I need to go to her." Dudley said, tears streaming down his dirty face.

"Dudley," Sirius hugged him tightly and Dudley cried into his shirt. "Just stay here for a minute with Harry. Let me just see if she's still..." he stopped speaking.

Sirius let go of Dudley and said, "Stay here." before running over to what used to be Petunia's car. He didn't see how she could still be alive. The car was crushed on its side, against the wall.

Sirius didn't want to use magic to get her out, as there were so many muggles milling around.

Sirius grabbed a piece of brick from the ground and smashed the remaining glass that was in the windshield so that he could reach in without getting cut. Petunia had her seat belt on, and it was stuck. He pulled out his wand discreetly and whispered, "Diffindo!" to slice the belt. Sirius grabbed Petunia under the armpits and slowly pulled her out of the wrecked car. He gently laid her on the ground as he heard sirens of the emergency vehicles getting nearer.

Her body looked terribly broken; her legs were crushed, she had a large wound on her head. and her yellow blouse was now red with blood.

Sirius felt her pulse. she wasn't breathing. "Damn." Sirius said quietly, and looked back where Harry and Dudley were standing, eyes wide in fear.

Dudley started towards Sirius, but Sirius put up his hand to stop him. He got up from where he was kneeling besides Petunia and went over to the boys. His shirt and hands were covered in Petunia's blood.

An ambulance, a firetruck, and several police cars turned the corner. The police began blocking off the street as the firefighters unraveled their hoses and worked to put out the fire in the truck. The paramedics rushed over to Petunia and tried to resuscitate her. They lifted her on a stretcher, placed her into the ambulance and drove away.

"Is she okay?" Dudley asked fearfully.

"Dudley, I don't think so." Sirius said, not knowing what else to tell him.

The police were now questioning the people standing around, and one officer came over to Sirius.

"Did you happen to see the accident, sir?" He asked.

"No, but that was my godson's aunt in the car." Sirius said.

"It was that truck driver's fault. He went through the stoplight. It wasn't Mum's fault at all!" Dudley cried. "She always stops at lights and stop signs! She would never ever do anything like that! No, she wouldn't!"

"Would you like a ride to the hospital?" The officer asked kindly.

"Yeah, that would be great, thanks." Sirius replied.

The officer motioned to his partner, who came over and led them to one of the police cars. Sirius, Harry and Dudley all got into the back seat so they could sit next to each other. Sirius held Dudley for the entire ride while he cried into Sirius' shoulder. Harry sat there stunned and shocked. Sirius had seen too much death, thanks to Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters, to let this accident bother him too much, although the thing that pained him the most were Dudley's weeping, and the look on Harry's face.

At the hospital, they all got out of the car and Sirius thanked the officer before he drove away. They walked through the large entrance doors into the gleaming whiteness of the reception area. When Sirius asked the nurse at the front desk about Petunia, she got Doctor Karvan, who had worked on Petunia when the paramedics brought her in, and he told them that she was gone.

"Died instantly, on impact." Doctor Karvan said. "We have her belongings that were in the car here, if you want to take them."

Vernon suddenly walked through the entrance door and stopped at the sight of Sirius, his nephew, and his son.

"This is all your fault! You and your kind! You couldn't just ignore the bloody letter, could you, boy. No. You had to go to that blasted school,!" Vernon grabbed a hold of Dudley by the neck. He looked like a crazy man; his face was red, spit was flying from his mouth, and sweat gleamed on his vast forehead.

"I'm warning you, let him go!" Sirius yelled.

"Sir, I must ask you to calm yourself, or well have to call the authorities!" Doctor Karvan said to Vernon.

Vernon let go of Dudley and Sirius pulled him back next to him.

"Don't you ever come back! I don't want to see you ever again! You chose them, over me and your mother, so you can stay with them forever! It's your fault your mother is DEAD! And don't you ever forget it." Vernon snarled, and stormed off down the gleaming hallway.

"Dad, wait!" Dudley screamed to his father's retreating figure. "No, come back!" He sank to the floor, sobbing. He had just lost his mother to Death, and now, his father, to prejudice. Harry knelt beside him, trying to comfort him; he knew how it felt not to have any parents.

"I'll take her things," Sirius said quietly to the nurse, and she handed him a small blue purse and a box wrapped in colored paper.

"Come on ,boys, let's go home." Harry helped Sirius pull Dudley to his feet. Sirius led them outside around the building, to a secluded spot in the back of the hospital, where nobody could see them, and they apparated back to the apartment.

When they arrived, Dudley flopped down on the couch and stared into space. Harry left for the kitchen to get a glass of water; all of this reminded him harshly of his parents deaths, although their's was less gruesome than Aunt Petunia's.

"Dudley, these were your mother's things...this box has your name on it." Sirius said, placing the objects next to Dudley on the couch, then followed Harry into the kitchen so Dudley could be alone.

Dudley picked up the purse and dumped the contents out on his lap. There was some makeup, a small mirror, and some loose change.

A frilly pink hankerchief floated down; it was the one that Sirius had made from the couch cushion on his very first visit to the Dursleys. Dudley picked it up and deeply inhaled the perfumey smell, his mother's smell.

He tucked it into his pocket for safe-keeping, then picked up the box from the couch. There was a tag on it that read, 'To Dudley, Love Mum . I'm sorry we forgot all about your birthday in all the confusion of the letter. I hope this makes up for it.'

He took off the tag and looked at the swooping words; he had never noticed before how neat and graceful his mother's writing was.

It's funny, Dudley thought, that when someone we love passes on, we remember things about them that we just took for granted when they were alive, little quirks that made them unique. Dudley supposed he was lucky though; he had known his mother for eleven years, but Harry was only one when his parents were murdered.

Dudley began tearing the paper off the box and lifted the lid. On top there was a framed photo of Dudley and Petunia at Christmas sitting at the dinner table, but the people in the picture were moving. Dudley's mouth gaped open in wonder. It was like a tiny television set! It was amazing!

He set the picture on the coffee table and watched his mother daintily taking bites out of her mashed potatoes before turning back to the box. Underneath the photo were some hard objects wrapped in tissue paper. There was a note on top.' I hope these come in useful for learning about the wizarding world! I got you an assortment. I had to go to Diagon Alley to get them, and I got the picture made there too. The bartender at the Leaky Cauldron had to tap the wall as I didn't have a wand! I knew about it from going with Lily when she needed to get her school things. Hope you like it!'

Dudley gently unwrapped the top item. It was a book, Quidditch through the Ages.

"Wow!" Dudley exclaimed, and he quickly flipped through the book, looking at all the moving pictures of people flying through the air on broomsticks. He had never seen anything like it.

There were four other books in the box, all on different subjects: charmwork, transfiguration, magical creatures, and potion-making. He got up, placed the books and his mother's purse back in the box and slid it under his bunk just as Sirius and Harry entered the room.

"Alright I think it's time for bed. It's been a long day." Sirius said.

Harry climbed up to his top bunk and Dudley slipped into the bottom one. Sirius kneeled besides him and said, "Don't listen to what your farther said; it wasn't your fault. And remember, the ones that love us never really leave us. You can always find them in here..." and he gently pressed against Dudley's heart.

"I don't have anyone now." Dudley said.

"Yes, you do! You'll always have Harry, and me, too. We'll watch out for you. And don't worry about your father..he might come round after he realizes what a wonderful son he's lost." Sirius said, "Good night, boys." flicked his wand, and the lights went out.


	7. Chapter 7 Harry's letter

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harrry!**

**Thanks to Honoria Granger for reviewing, and to skyefire, C-lide the Teddi Lover, and sportygal101 for adding this to your story alert.**

Sirius and Harry tried to comfort Dudley the best they could after his mother's death. Dudley didn't want to do much; he often just sat on his bunk and read the books his mother gave him over and over, every now and then glancing over at the Christmas picture of him and his mother that remained on the coffee table where he had put it.

As the weeks went by, the pain of losing his mother began to lessen, as excitement about going to Hogwarts filled that spot. Dudley still thought about Petunia at night when he went to bed and stared at her picture, but he thought about the good times, instead of the accident and the big fight.

Dudley and Harry began discussing magic again, crossing the days off on the calender before they went to bed each night, wishing it was finally September 1.

Sirius said that since Dudley's birthday was forgotten with the confusion of him getting the letter, they would combine Harry and Dudley's birthday on July 31, when Harry would get his Hogwart's letter. Then they would go to Diagon Alley. It would be a real treat for Dudley, as he was never there before, and Harry had only been there once with Sirius to buy Hedwig and hadn't really gone into the other shops.

On July 30 the boys couldn't get to sleep; Harry was thinking of choosing a magic wand, and Dudley was imagining what Diagon Alley would be like.

"Harry, your letter's here," Sirius shouted, walking in the living room wearing a faded blue robe and carrying an tawny owl on his arm. Harry jumped out of bed, awake immediately.

"Dudley, come on get up, we're going to Diagon Alley!" Harry whooped.

Dudley raised his head groggily.

"What's that?" he mumbled.

"We're going to get our school supplies." Harry said, as Sirius untied the letter from the owl and handed it to Harry.

"Oh, yeah! I almost forgot." Dudley said, getting out of bed and stretching his arms. It felt like it was just five minutes ago that he had fallen asleep, dreaming of wands and toads and cauldrons.

"Dear Mr. Potter," Harry read. "We are pleased to inform you that you have accepted at Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry. It's the same as yours, Dud. And here's my list of things that I need."

"Okay, let's say I make some breakfast and we get going?" Sirius said, taking the owl over to the window and letting it outside into the warm morning air.

"Sure." Harry said.

An hour later, all three were standing outside, blinking in the sun.

"I wish my mum could've come," Dudley said quietly.

"She is here, with you." Sirius said. "And she always will be."

"Yeah, I know." Dudley said, smiling at Sirius. Sometimes Dudley wished Sirius was his father instead of Vernon; he was very supportive, and always stood behind you, no matter what. and he didn't care if Dudley was a wizard. These last few weeks would've been so much harder to get through if Sirius and Harry weren't there, helping him to get up in the morning and keeping his mind off the sad things, and reminding him of the happy times.

"Let's set off then," Sirius said, leading the way to the Leaky Cauldron down the block.

As they entered the pub, Sirius spotted a familiar shabby figure sitting at the bar, his back turned towards them.

"Remus," Sirius called. "That you?"

"Sirius? Hey!" Remus Lupin came over and gave Sirius a tight hug. He looked really bad today; the full moon must be coming up. Remus' robes hung around him like he had lost more weight, dark circles blossomed underneath his eyes, and his face was pale and sickly looking.

"I haven't seen you in a while. I was going to come visit after I had a drink." Remus motioned to the bar. "Last I heard you were going to get Harry."

"Yeah, I've got him." Sirius grinned.

Harry stepped up. "Hi, Remus!"

Remus had come with Sirius a few times to visit Harry at the Dursleys. He didn't come very often, because he was sick most of the time.

"We're off to Diagon Alley to get the boy's school things." Sirius said.

"Boys?" Remus asked, confused.

"Oh, that's right, you don't know, do you? This is Dudley." Dudley gave a small wave.

"Dudley Dursley, I never would've thought." Remus said, frowning. " I'm willing to bet you're parents didn't welcome that news." Remus knew of Vernon's disdain for magical folk.

"Um, no, my dad didn't. But Mum, she er, she wanted me to go. My dad kicked me out." Dudley said.

Sirius pulled Remus aside and quickly explained the fight and Petunia's death to him.

Harry was looking around the bar while the others were talking, and people sitting at the tables kept staring at him, then looking away when he caught them, until one short man came over and introduced himself.

"I'm Dedalus Diggle, Mr. Potter. I was there the night You- Know- Who murdered your parents." Diggle introduced himself, dropping his top hat in excitement. "Pleasure to meet you!" He grabbed Harry's hand and shook it.

After that, everyone else got up and formed a line to shake Harry's hand. They all were saying how brave his parents were, how nobly they fought until their death. Sirius finally noticed the commotion and stepped over just as a witch named Doris Crockford came back for a third handshake.

"Okay, that's enough," Sirius said, pulling Harry away from the admiring crowd.

"Are you alright?" He asked Harry.

"Yeah. Everyone kept talking about my parents."

"You're going to get a lot of that. They see you as a hero; you stopped Voldemort, and with him, the killing and fear. They look up to you."

They went back over where Remus and Dudley were talking.

"Let's go, Dudley. Remus, do you want to come?"

"No, I'll stop by a little later at your place. I -I haven't been feeling well lately. I'll see you later, Padfoot." Remus replied, going back over to the bar.

Sirius, Harry and Dudley quickly walked out the back door before people started coming over again to meet Harry.

Sirius tapped the brick in the wall and the entrance opened up.

"Ready Dudley?" Harry asked. He nodded, heart pounding in excitement.

"Welcome to Diagon Alley, Dudley." Sirius said, watching in amusement at the look of awe on Dudley's face.

**What do you think so far? Let me know! REVIEW!**


	8. Diagon Alley

**Disclaimer: Thanks To J.K.R. for letting me play with her creation.**

**Thanks to Honoria Granger,potterheadpage,Never-ending magic, and lyaser53 for reviewing, to InsanityAintOptional,canterwoodgames,lady of zsgolla, ericus, treehuggerluna, dollydell, Roselillypotterevens, lyaser53, Pheobe Arocis, and Kaitylyn Potter for adding this to your story alert, toRoselillypotterevens and lyaser53 to adding me to your author alert and favorite author, and to ericus,Roselillypotterevens, and lyaser53 for adding this to your fave stories. It really means alot to me, everyone! Thank you so so much!**

There were so many shops lining the Alley. Dudley didn't know in which direction to look first. Colorful signs in the shop windows advertised their wares, enticing people to come over and browse. Stacks of merchandise was piled outside in front of the stores, from gold cauldrons gleaming in the bright sun, to racks of robes in all different colors and styles to stacks of books. Wonderful smells wafted through the air from Rufius' Wizard Bake shop nearby, making Dudley's mouth water.

There were loads of people milling around, chattering to each other while doing their shopping; it was especially busy this time of year as people were buying school supplies for their children.

"What do you want to get first?" Sirius asked.

"Let's get our wands." Harry said and Dudley nodded in agreement, still staring around at everything.

"Olivander's it is then."

The ancient sign nailed above the door said 'Olivander's: makers of fine wands since 382 B.C'. The purple paint on the shop was chipped and peeling, a few wooden shingles were clattering on the roof in the breeze, and they could see a single wand laying on a faded purple cushion in the window. The place looked deserted.

"Are they even open?" Dudley said, peeking through the dirty window.

"Olivander's, closed? No." Sirius answered. "It looked like this when I came for my wand, too."

As they pulled opened the door and entered the shop, they could hear a bell tinkling in it's dark depths. It was very tiny inside; there was an old wooden desk in front, with shelves all the way up to the ceiling, stacked with boxes and boxes of wands.

"It's kind of creepy in here," Dudley said, coughing because of all the dust; he was used to Petunia's dustless, dirtless, spotless house.

"Good afternoon," a soft voice said. Dudley and Harry jumped, but Sirius just chuckled, and murmured,"Same thing that happened to me."

An old man with wide pale luminous eyes stood before them, wearing dark blue robes and holding several thin boxes, which he placed on the wooden desk.

"I was just organizing the wands; they don't like to stay in the same place all the time, you know. It gets quite boring for them, and reorganizing gives me something to do." he gave them a small leer, showing yellow crooked teeth. "I'm Garrrick Olivander. Here to get your wands, I suppose, or why else would you be here in this dingy old shop?"

Mr. Olivander turned to Sirius and stared at him. "Sirius Black, am I right?"

"Yes, that's me." Sirius said uncomfortably under Mr. Olivander wide-eyed gaze.

"Fifteen inches, walnut, dragon heartstring, wasn't it?" without waiting for a response from Sirius, Mr. Olivander turned back to the boys, and said, "Now who wants to go first?"

"Why don't you go, Dudley?" Harry said, nudging him forward.

"Well now, Mr. Dudley," Mr. Olivander pulled out a long tape measure with silver markings out of his pocket. "Which is your wand arm?"

"Er, well I'm right-handed," Dudley said, staring at his feet to avoid looking into Mr. Olivander's large eyes.

He began measuring Dudley's right arm, from shoulder to finger, wrist to elbow, shoulder to floor, knee to armpit, and round his head.

"You're a muggle born, aren't you?" Mr. Olivander questioned.

"Yes, how did you know?" Dudley looked amazed. "Are you a mind reader?"

"I can just tell. I've been doing this a long time. I know the signs." he tapped the side of his head and went on to explain about wands. "All Olivander's wands have a powerful magical core; either dragon heartstring, unicorn hair, or phoenix tail feathers. No two wands are alike, just as no two phoenixes, dragons, or unicorns are alike. And always remember, the wand chooses the wizard, Mr. Dudley."

Mr. Olivander walked over to the shelves and began grabbing boxes off them.

"Right then, try this one. Just give it a wave. Maple and unicorn hair, ten and a quarter inches. Pliable." Dudley reached out to take the thin wooden object but before he could grab it, Mr. Olivander said, "No, no, that's not right." and took a different one out of a box.

"Blackthorn and dragon heartstring. Seven inches. Unyielding." Dudley took it and waved it.

"Was something supposed to happen?" Dudley asked. Mr. Olivander didn't reply, and instead handed him another wand. "Willow and phoenix feather, 11 inches, swishy." He started to raise the wand when Mr. Olivander snatched it out of his hand again.

" No, no, try this one."

Dudley must've tried out about ten wands before Mr. Olivander handed him a fourteen inch yew wand with a core of dragon heartstring. As he took it, he felt a strange tingling go from his fingertips and spread throughout his whole body. He waved it, and green flames shot from the end.

"Oh, very good, I must say! Flames, very nice."

Dudley reluctantly handed Mr. Olivander back the wand, his wand, he thought, so he could put it back into it's box and wrap it. He then gave the box back to Dudley, who hugged it to his chest. He felt as if a part of him he never knew was there had awakened when he touched the wand, and he didn't want to lose it, ever.

"It's your turn, Harry," Sirius said.

"Harry Potter. It's a pleasure to meet you." Mr. Olivander said, shaking his hand. "You have your mother's eyes. I remember when she came in for her first wand. She was a very excited child; she couldn't wait to try out the first wand I gave her, nearly pulled me over when she grabbed it!" he laughed."Good times, good times. Her's was ten and a half inches, swishy , made of willow, nice for charmwork. Your father favored a mahogany wand, eleven inches, pliable. Good for transfiguration." He began handing Harry wands just as he did with Dudley, except Harry kept waving wand after wand, but nothing was happening.

"Blimey, Harry," Sirius said. "Are you going to have to try out every wand in this shop?"

The pile of tried wands kept mounting, until it covered the desk and Mr. Olivander had to start stacking them on the floor. Mr. Olivander didn't seem to be getting frustrated, as Harry was beginning to feel, but rather ecstatic.

"Tricky customer, eh. Not to worry, there's a wand here for you somewhere, Mr. Potter, we just have to find it."

"Why not try this one," the old man mumbled to himself, pulling out a box from the very top of the shelf where it was pushed all the way to the back. It didn't look like it had been touched in a long while; the other boxes had multiple fingerprints in the dust that covered them, but this one had none.

"Unusual combination...holly and phoenix feather...eleven inches, nice and supple... I wonder now..."

Harry took the wand and a warmth went down his arm. He raised the wand, and swished it through the air. A stream of red and gold sparks shot from the end and Sirius and Dudley clapped.

"Oh, bravo, very good indeed." Mr. Olivander cried. "But curious, very curious."

He kept muttering "curious, curious" under his breath like a chant while he wrapped Harry's new holly wand until Harry could stand it no longer and asked, "Sorry, but what's curious?"

"Ahh, curious are you, about what's so curious? I remember every wand I ever sold, Mr. Potter. What is so curious to me is that the phoenix feather in the wand that has just chosen you is from a phoenix that gave just one other feather, which resides in it's brother, who gave you that scar."

Sirius and Dudley stared at Mr. Olivander and Harry twitched nervously.

"Yes," Mr. Olivander continued, enjoying the reaction he was getting. "Thirteen and a half inches, yew. Curious indeed how these things happen. The wand chooses the wizard, remember... I think we must expect great things from you Mr. Potter. After all, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did great things, terrible, yes, but great."

Harry shivered as a vision of Lord Voldemort murdering his parents popped into his head. That was certainly a terrible thing, and not at all great, in his opinion...

Sirius paid for their wands, giving the old man a frown. He wasn't sure how he would feel if he had a wand that had a core relation to a wand that had killed somebody he loved. He would probably want to snap it in half, then burn the pieces.

They left Olivander's, everyone quiet, thinking about everything the shopkeeper had said. Sirius nodded to Madame Malkin's Robes for All Occasions and breaking the silence, said,"Why don't we get your uniforms next, get the boring stuff out of the way?"

"Alright," Dudley said reading off his list as they entered Madame Malkin's. "We need three sets of plain black work robes, one plain black pointed hat, and one black winter cloak."

When the squat witch behind the front desk, who was Madame Malkin, asked them what they needed, Sirius replied, "Two sets of Hogwarts uniforms for Harry and Dudley here."

"Please step onto those stools, boys," she said, pointing to the back of the shop where another boy was being fitted for his uniform.

As Madame Malkin slipped long black robes over Harry and Dudley, the pale blonde boy being fitted next to them, who had been staring at Harry, said, "You're Harry Potter, aren't you?"

"Yes, I am," Harry said. "And this is my cousin, Dudley."

"My parents are buying my books next door at Flourish and Blotts; I'm glad that they're not here, because they don't like you very much."

"Why, what did I ever do to them?" Harry frowned at the boy.

"Well, they believed You-Know-Who was right on track with what he was doing. Muggle torture, concurring the muggles, banning muggleborns from Hogwarts, that sort of thing. They're purebloods. I personally don't really care what kind of blood you have, but for them it means everything. It's so ridiculous, and they are trying to persuade me that if you are not a pureblood, you're not worth anything. They're even trying to arrange a marriage for me with a pureblood girl. I mean I'm only eleven! I agree with them to make them stop pestering me about it all the time," he rolled his eyes. "Oh, I'm Draco Malfoy, by the way."

Sirius, who had a hunch this was Lucius Malfoy's son, as he looked exactly like him, and had been listening to the conversation, said, getting up from the chair he was sitting in, "Why don't we come back later before..."

The front door opened suddenly and Lucius Malfoy, tall, pale and blond, sauntered in with his wife, Narcissa. He was carrying an ornately carved walking stick, and his wife trudged after him, lugging a large, heavy bag of schoolbooks and other supplies.

Madame Malkin's helper was just finishing up with Draco; she slipped the robes off his head and said, "There you go, dear, you're all done." and handed him the pile of his Hogwarts things.

"I guess I'll see you two at Hogwarts, then." Draco said, smiling and hopping off the stool and going over to his parents. Sirius was practically bristling as he eyed Malfoy like a hawk. The order had suspected Malfoy was a Death Eater, and in Voldemort's inner circle, but never caught him. He plead innocent at his trial; claiming that he was being controlled when and was released when Voldemort was destroyed. What he would give to curse Malfoy all the way to hell where he belonged with his beloved master...

Malfoy had seen Sirius now, and smirked at him. "Now who's that there? The Boy Who Lived?" Malfoy sneered evilly, gesturing toward Harry. "Unlike his parents."

"Don't even go there!" Sirius snarled, pointing his wand at Malfoy. Harry and Dudley turned around on their stools to see what the commotion was about.

"Please, gentlemen, I will not allow allow dueling in my shop!" Madame Malkin said, standing up and dropping the hem of Harry's robes that she had been working on. "You may leave now, sir. You're son is finished." she said to Mr. Malfoy.

He threw a handful of galleons onto the counter and drawled to Sirius, "I would be willing to bet that you wish they were still alive so you wouldn't have to raise their little brat, don't you, _Sirius_? Such a waste of valuable time that you could use on yourself."

Then he walked out, followed by Narcissa, and his son, who mouthed "sorry" before running after his parents. Sirius was breathing heavily. He pounded the wall once with his fist, trying to control his emotions. Why must people always bring up Lily and James? No one will ever let him forget.

"Sirius, are you okay?". Harry was besides him, staring at him with wide eyes full of concern, his small hand laying on Sirius' forearm in a comforting way. Sirius wrapped him in a hug.

"Yes, I'm fine. Go finish up so we can get the rest of your things." and he watched as the mini-James with green Lily eyes went back to his place on the stool.

"Hey, Harry, look at this," Dudley said, nudging Harry and showing him the book he was holding. 'Curses and Countercurses{bewitch your friends and befuddle your enemies with the latest revenges: hair loss, Jelly-Legs, Tongue-Tying and much, much more} by Professor Vindictus Viridian.

"That is so bloody cool. Imagine using these on Piers." Harry laughed.

They were in Flourish and Blotts. Sirius had been somewhat subdued after the encounter with Lucius Malfoy just an hour before in Madame Malkin's, and Harry and Dudley were trying not to bother him too much, so when their robes were done, they followed him quietly to the book store.

They had every book of every size, shape, color{some were invisible} stacked on the shelves, and Harry and Dudley wanted to look at them all.

"Let's get it.." Harry was saying to Dudley when Sirius said, "Let's stay focused here."

Harry looked at the Hogwarts list.

"The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1, by Miranda Goshawk; A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot; Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling; A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch; One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore; Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger; Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander; The Dark Forces: a guide to self-protection by Quentin Trimble." Harry read.

"Hey, Sirius, we'll take the top half and you can take the bottom half." Harry said as he grabbed Dudley's arm and they wandered away to look for their books, doing some browsing along the way.

They got the rest of their supplies at various shops along Diagon Alley, and stopped in some of the more interesting shops to look around.

Sirius bought Dudley a small tawny owl at Eeylop's Owl Emporium as a birthday gift for his missed birthday.

In Quality Quidditch Supplies, Harry spent fifteen minutes staring at the new racing broom, the Nimbus 2000. They had lots of interesting things; all sorts of team uniforms, different padding and supports to wear while playing quidditch so you don't get hurt too badly, crates of big red balls that Sirius said were called quaffles and used to score in quidditch, broom handle polish, broom-keeping kits, and so much more. Sirius was looking at all the different brooms that were mounted on the walls, from Cleansweep sevens to Comet two sixtys.

"I had one of these when I was younger," Sirius said, pointing at an old Silver Arrow.

Sirius cheered up considerably after they visited the quidditch shop.

Their last stop was the Apothecary. In Dudley's opinion, this was by far the most interesting shop they had been in, although Harry said his favorite was the quidditch store. It smelt very bad inside, like rotten eggs and old sweaty gym socks and it was dark and smokey, like someone was burning something behind the curtain that separated the back room from the shopping area.

An old woman dressed in brightly colored robes and strings of beads came out from behind the curtain to help told her that they needed basic potions ingredients for Hogwarts, and while she was gathering what they needed, Dudley took a look around.

There were barrels on the floor filled with things like small, slimy, black beetles eyes that looked like caviar, and dried newts tails. On the shelves, there were jars of dried powders, and crushed herbs, and animal innards floating in a green gelatinous fluid; to keep them fresh until used in a potion, Dudley guessed. A box nearby was labeled bezoars, an antidote for most poisons and contained small, shriveled gray objects. Bundles of dried herbs hung from the ceiling. A small stack of potion books, rested on the counter, and Dudley wandered over to look at them. He asked Sirius if he could get one of the books; he was fascinated by the recipes within. Difficult Potion-Making for the Brilliant Minded contained recipes for Death Drought, Felix Felicius and many more. He would read more about them later.

Dudley was examining long, coarse white unicorn hairs when Sirius said, "Ready to go?" for the Apothecary lady had found everything they needed.

Laden down with bags full of school things, and Dudley's owl, they headed home, passing Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor on the way, where they stopped for a cold treat after an exhausting day. Sirius sent their things back to the apartment to wait for them so they could walk back unencumbered, enjoying their ice cream.

The rest of the summer passed uneventfully. Dudley wished he could wake up and find that it was September first. Sometimes Dudley would take his wand out of it's box and finger it gently; he couldn't wait to do magic!

On days that were very hot, Dudley and Harry would stay inside playing exploding snap, a wizard card game that Sirius taught them, where the cards explode and singe your eyebrows { Harry lost both his eyebrows in one game and Sirius had to use a hair growth charm to restore them} or they read their Hogwarts books.

The potion-making book Dudley got in the Apothecary intrigued him; he could only imagine what it would be like to drink some Felix Felicius, which was a luck potion. The possibilities! Or amortensia, a love potion which you gave to someone to make them fall in love with you.

Harry and Dudley often fell to their favorite pastime of sitting and watching witches and wizards pass by on the way to Diagon Alley, sitting on the hot cement and often losing track of time, so they would get nasty sunburns, which Sirius had to heal with a magic cream he got from a first aid magic shop in the Alley after the forth time the boys got sunburnt.

Sometimes the three of them, every now and then accompanied by Remus, would go and get cones from Florean's. Sirius liked chocolate marshmellow, Dudley liked peanut butter, and Harry liked all the flavors and got a different one every time. When they were really bored, Harry and Dudley would wander around Diagon Alley, often stopping at Quality Quidditch Supplies so Harry could visit the Nimbus, or seeing if Gambol and Japes Wizarding Joke Shop had any new merchandise.

Remus stopped by quite a few times too, keeping them entertained with stories about a new movement he started to help werewolves like himself{hearing that Remus was a werewolf freaked the boys out a little , but they quickly got used to the idea} get jobs and stop the prejudice against them.

"Not all of us are bad, you know." Remus pointed out. "It's about time people realized that. They think all werewolves are killers because Voldemort had some among his ranks."

He was very excited one day, talking to Sirius about a new potion that made a werewolf sleep during the full moon until it changed back to human form.

"I've tried it and it works, but with some side effects. After you take it, it causes vomiting and hair loss," Remus said, pulling out a clump of his hair to demonstrate.

Harry and Dudley tried to teach Hedwig and Rosie{Dudley's owl} tricks, using owls treats where they picked up from the Magical Menagerie during one of their visits to the Alley. But apparently, owls can't lie down, play dead or roll over like dogs as Dudley and Harry quickly found out.

And finally, finally, finally, August 31 arrived. The boys scurried around the apartment, packing all their things into their Hogwarts trunks. Dudley placed the picture of his mother carefully on top of his other things before closing the lid.

The boys were so excited, they couldn't sleep, so instead stayed up talking all night, sometimes falling silent to listen to Sirius snoring in the other room, or pausing to stroke their owls, who finally came back after hunting.

Dudley awoke to Rosie nibbling his ear.

They had obviously fallen asleep at some point during the night, although it didn't feel like very long that he was asleep. The clock read 8:00. Sirius was stirring in the other room, so Dudley yawned, untangled himself from his blankets, and placed Rosie in her cage, ready for the journey to Hogwarts.

**Sorry I went on a bit about what Harry and Dudley did over the summer; I just kept thinking of things to write! **

**So, whad'ja think? Tell meeeeeee! REVIEW! Good? Bad? Really good? Really bad? Tell meeeeeee! REVIEWWWW! I LUV reviews...doesn't everyone? **


	9. Hogwarts Express and the Sorting

**Disclaimer: I wish he were mine, he's simply divine.. But Harry's not mine. :(**

**I know, this is getting old already...but I have to thank all of you anyway! **

**For reviewing: Melginnylover, lady of zsgolla, lyaser53**

**For adding to story alert: oniforever, Melginnylover, phantombrick,spiderwriters, mental panda**

**For fav story: oniforever, livedadream, fawkes flames**

**For fav author:Melginnylover, WatsonandMary4ever**

**For author alert: Melginnylover, WatsonandMary4ever**

**NOTES: I know Ginny and Luna are supposed to be a year younger, but I wanted to put them in now! **

**Melginnylover, I added Ginny, I hope she lives up to your expectations! {I love Ginny, too!}**

"Here we are." Sirius said, as they entered King's Cross train station, wheeling the two trolleys that carried their trunks and owls.

"The ticket says platform nine and three-quarters." Dudley said, frowning. " But there is no platform nine and three-quarters."

"Oh, yes there is," Sirius said. "Follow me."

They walked through the station, passing muggles talking on phones, pacing back and forth, or sitting on benches, reading newspapers, all waiting for their trains. Some stopped what they were doing and stared at the enormous Hogwarts trunks and the owls hooting in their cages, bouncing up and down on the trolleys.

Harry and Dudley followed Sirius past the staring muggles they reached platforms nine and ten.

"Now, all you have to do is walk through the wall and you come out on the other side. It's best to do it at a run if you're nervous." Sirius explained. "You want to go first, Dudley?"

"Ok," he said nervously. There was something about running into a brick wall that sounded really stupid and dangerous to him... but this was the wizarding world, so this must be a magic wall.

Dudley took a deep breath, tightened his grip on the handle of his trolley, and ran toward the wall, squeezing his eyes shut, expecting a painful impact. But there was no crash, just a cool breeze ruffling his hair. He opened his eyes, and blinked in amazement. In front of him was a brilliant scarlet steam engine with the words 'Hogwarts Express' written in heavy gold script across the engine. Dudley slowly let out his breath. It was beautiful!

"Blimey, Dudley, watch it!" Harry said, almost smashing into him as he came through the wall, but veering away just in time to avoid hitting him. Sirius appeared behind Harry, and stopped, staring at the train.

"The old Hogwarts Express." Sirius smiled. "Magnificent, as always."

The train's whistle sounded; it was 10:45 and the train was scheduled to leave at 11:00.

Sirius helped them load their trunks onto the train and carry them into an empty compartment.

"Oh, Harry one more thing. People are probably going to be staring at you alot, asking you questions about that night, and things like that. It's going to be hard in the beginning, but I'm Dudley will be there. And if you need anything, just write okay? Don't hesitate... I'm going to be bored out my mind without you two and I could use a letter to read. Alright then, I'll see you Christmas, then, boys? Or do you want to stay at Hogwarts for the holidays?"

"Well, well, what do we have here?" Lucius Malfoy was standing with his son on the platform, the gold trimming on his emerald robes sparkling in the sun, smirking at Sirius. Draco stared down at his feet, embarrassed at how his father was behaving again.

Sirius sighed and turned around to face him.

"Do you want me to curse you?" Sirius asked wearily. "Is that why you keep pushing me?"

"Have you adopted another child now? Trying to save the world by taking in all the homeless orphans? Pity the Potter boy's worthless parents couldn't be here ..."

Lucius Malfoy was hit with a jet of light and fell to the ground.

"Sirius, no!" Harry grabbed his arm, trying to hold him back, but Sirius shook him off, and said,"No, Harry I've had enough!"

Sirius reached Malfoy just as he was getting to his feet, his blond hair mussed from his fall. They were starting to attract the attention of the few parents and students that hadn't left yet.

Sirius stuck his wand in his pocket, grabbed Malfoy by the collar, and punched him right in the jaw.

Apparently, Malfoy had no experience with muggle dueling, as he couldn't defend himself when Sirius continued to pummel him with all his strength.

Sirius kneeled on the ground where Malfoy was laying, bloody and beaten, on the pavement, and hissed into his ear, "Do you know how much pain you've caused, Malfoy, you and your Death Eater friends? Do you even have a clue? Lily and James were a hundred times better then you'll ever be! You're a sniveling, pathetic waste of space. I wish I could get rid of you here and now, but then who'll take care of the 'orphans' when I get chucked in Azkaban?"

He got up and turned around, ready to walk back to Harry and Dudley; it was three minutes to eleven, almost time for them to board, and all of the students were on the train. There were only a few parents left, waiting for the train to pull out to get one last look at their children until the holidays.

Mr. Malfoy hauled himself up and picked up his walking stick, which was lying a few feet away where he had dropped it when Sirius had punched him. He pulled the top part of the cane off, and out came his wand, which he pointed at Sirius' retreating figure, with a wicked smile on his face.

"Who will take care of the orphans indeed," he drawled.

Dudley and Harry, who were waiting for Sirius to reach them, saw that Malfoy had pulled out his wand.

"Sirius, watch out!" Harry yelled, pointing to Malfoy, but before Sirius could react, Malfoy yelled, "Crucio!"

And then Sirius was on the ground, writhing in pain and screaming.

Harry ran over and knelt beside him, as he panted and the spell wore off.

"Oh, have you not had enough, my dear Sirius? Malfoy raised his wand again, ready to perform another cruciatus curse, but Dudley yelled, "NO!", blasting him backward and knocking him unconscious, where he flew onto the train tracks.

"Dad!" Draco cried, jumping down from the platform onto the tracks.

The Hogwarts Express was starting to pull out, building up speed and heading for Malfoy.

Sirius said, "Damn, why do I have to be the good guy?"

Draco was trying to pull his father out of the way of the train, but he was too heavy.

Sirius leapt down, grabbed Draco around the waist and threw him back up onto the platform. Then he hoisted Mr. Malfoy up, with help from Harry, Dudley and Draco, who were pulling his arms.

Sirius dragged Malfoy to the middle of the platform, and then collapsed, panting from the effort.

"Hurry, or you'll miss the train!" Sirius said.

It was still going slow enough that Harry and Dudley could grab onto the railings and pull themselves aboard, where they then opened the door and entered the train.

"Have a good term!" Sirius shouting, waving and grinning as the train chugged away. That fight with Malfoy felt him feeling more alive than he had in a long time, reminding him of how he used to fight dark wizards in the Order.

"Don't say I never did any thing for you." Sirius said to Lucius Malfoy, pointing his wand at Malfoy's chest and said "Ennervate".

Draco looked up at Sirius and said, " Thank you for saving him. I'm really sorry about everything he said."

Sirius stared at the boy; Draco reminded him of himself as a child. Sirius was also unwilling to follow his parent's beliefs.

Sirius gave him a smile and said, "It's what I do," and then he disapparated from platform nine and three quarters, leaving the pale blonde-haired man, lying on the floor, groaning and starting to stir, and his pale blonde son, kneeling besides him, staring after the scarlet locomotive as it sped away along the tracks.

Harry and Dudley watched through the train window and saw Sirius point his wand at Mr. Malfoy, say something to Draco, then get up and disappear.

"Well, that was unexpected," Harry said. "I hope Sirius is okay after getting crucioed like that..."

"Isn't that one of the unforgivable curses Sirius told us about?" Dudley asked. "Can't Mr. Malfoy go to Azkaban for using it?"

"Yes, but knowing Malfoy, he'd probably wriggle out like the slimy worm that he is," Harry replied as they went back to the compartment they had stored their trunks in.

There were three people sitting inside the compartment already; a plump round-faced boy, a tall, gangly red-haired boy, and a blonde girl holding a magazine entitled 'The Quibbler', and wearing a necklace of corks around her neck.

The girl said, "Oh, was this your compartment? There wasn't anywhere else to sit, so I came in here, and these two followed me. I hope it's okay..."

"Yes, sure, it's fine." Harry said as he and Dudley came in and sat down.

The red-haired boy was staring at Harry.

"Are you Harry Potter?" he asked.

"Er, yeah, I am," Harry said.

"Is that the scar that the Killing Curse left?" The round-faced boy asked in awe, pointing at the scar on Harry's forehead. Harry flattened down his black hair over the scar and nodded.

"That's very interesting, how you defeated He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named when you were only a baby and survived! How did you do it?" the girl asked, wide-eyed.

Dudley, sensing Harry's tension and unwillingness to talk about this subject, interrupted and said, "My name's Dudley Dursley. I'm Harry's cousin. What's your name?"

Harry smiled gratefully at his cousin for changing the subject, and Dudley gave him a small wink in return.

"I'm Neville Longbottom." the round-faced boy said. "My parents fought You-Know-Who, too."

"I'm Luna Lovegood. My father publishes the Quibbler. I have an issue right here if you would like to look at it," the girl said, handing Dudley her magazine.

"I'm Ron Weasley." the red-haired boy said, scratching at his nose.

A red-haired girl opened the door to the compartment and said,"Hey, Ron, is it alright if I sit in here? Fred and George are driving me crazy." Harry thought she was rather pretty. She paused when she saw all the people.

"Oh, hello, everyone. I'm Ginny Weasley." She announced to the whole of the compartment, looking around. Her eyes stopped, and she started blushing when they landed on Harry.

"Maybe I'll just go back to my compartment," she said, but Ron grabbed her, and grinned, "No, you can stay here," and pulled her down on the seat besides him.

"Ginny, why did you leave us?" Two twin boys walked into the room.

At this point it was getting quite crowded.

"Wow, are you Harry Potter?" one of the twins said, goggling at Harry.

"I left because you two are bugging me. Now get out," Ginny said, pushing them back out into the corridor.

Fred blew his breath onto the window of the compartment, and George drew a heart in the fog, and starting writing 'Ginny and Ha' when Ginny pulled out her wand, and pointed it at George, giving him a warning look.

Ron explained to Harry, "My sister kind of has a thing for you after she read about you in a book. We all like to tease her about it,"

Fred and George saw the wand and said in mock horror, "You wouldn't curse your own brothers!"

"You want to test me?"

They quickly rubbed out the heart and left.

Ron was laughing and told the room, "Don't ever get on Ginny's bad side. She does a wicked bat bogey hex. The first time she did it she was five and.."

Ginny turned her wand on Ron and he closed his mouth immediately.

"Thought so." she chuckled and plopped back down in her seat.

The bright cover of the Quibbler in Dudley's hand caught her eye, and she said excitedly, "Is that the Quibbler? I LOVE that magazine!"

"My father publishes it." Luna said.

"Then you must have inside information on the stories." Ginny said.

"Did you read the issue with the crumple-horned snorkacks?"

"Yes, that was a good one,"

"Well, we had to travel to Ukraine and you wouldn't believe what happened..." and she and Luna started talking about the expedition for the snorkack.

"So how many Weasleys are there?" Harry asked Ron curiously.

"Well, there's Bill and Charlie; they left Hogwarts already. Bill works for Gringotts bank as a curse-breaker, and Charlie works in Romania with dragons. Percy's a prefect; next year is his last year. And you've met Fred and George, they're the twins." he gestured towards the corridor. "You want to watch out for them; they're always pulling pranks. Oh, and there's Ginny, and me, too."

"You probably never get bored with so many siblings," Dudley commented.

"Yeah, but you get anything new either, with so many brothers. I've got Bill's old robes, Charlie's old wand, and Percy's old rat." Ron complained.

"So, do you know what house you want to be in?" Neville asked Dudley. Sirius had told Harry and Dudley all about the houses, and how he was in Griffindor while the rest of his family were in Slytherin.

"I'm not sure; I don't care really, I'm just glad to be going to Hogwarts."

"I'm going to be in Gryffindor," Ron sighed. "Just like the rest of my family."

"Oh, quit complaining Ron, or I'll tell whoever's doing the Sorting to put you in Hufflepuff." Ginny said, rolling her eyes. Suddenly a rather bushy-haired girl with large front teeth entered, holding a toad and asked, "Has anyone in here lost a toad? "Trevor! Yes, thank you!" Neville cried, jumping up. "I thought I'd never see him again!"

He took Trevor from the girl and put him into his jacket pocket.

"Are you Harry Potter?" the girl asked, staring at Harry.

"Yes," Harry sighed, already tiring of this question.

"I know all about you, of course. I got some extra books for background reading, and you're in 'Modern Magical History' and 'The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts' and 'Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century'. I would have found out everything I could if it were me. By the way, have any of you done any magic yet? I've tried a few spells and they've all worked for me. Oh, I'm being rude, I haven't even introduced myself; I'm Hermione Granger." she said all this very fast and everyone was silently staring, dumbfounded at her.

"Okay then, I guess I'll be going now." Hermione said, and left without another word.

"Lunatic, that one," Ron said and Harry laughed.

At half past twelve, a smiling old woman knocked on the door and said, "Anything off the trolley, dears?" pointing to a cart piled high with candy and treats that was parked behind her.

"Yes!" Harry and Dudley stood up right away {they both had something of a sweet tooth} and each pulled a handful of gold galleons out of their pockets that Sirius had given them.

"Anybody want anything? Our treat."

Harry and Dudley came back a few minutes later with at least one of everything: pumpkin pasties, Bertie's Botts Every Flavor Beans, sugar quills, Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, chocolate frogs, licorice wands, cauldron cakes, cockroach clusters, and many other delicious treats. They dumped all the candy on an empty space on the seat and offered everyone some.

Harry handed Ginny a chocolate frog with a smile and she blushed. "Thanks."

"I would be careful with those, " Ron said, eyeing the bag of Bertie Bott's beans that Dudley was opening.

"Why?"

"Well, when they say every flavor, they mean every flavor."

"Don't be such a wimp, Ron," Ginny said, reaching out and plucking a white bean out of the bag.

She popped it into her mouth and chewed; her face turned green, and she spit the bean onto the floor and started gagging. Ron was laughing. Ginny punched him in the arm and gasped, "Shut up!"

"What flavor was that, Ginny?" Luna asked her.

"Squid, I think."

"This one looks safe," Harry said, eating a bright blue one. "Mmm, blueberry pie."

They spent the next hour daring each other to eat strange-looking beans, and everyone got a really nasty one; Neville got vomit, Harry got tobacco, Luna got grass, Dudley got boogers, Ron got sprouts, and Ginny got curdled milk.

Later on, in the middle of a game of exploding snaps that Ron, Neville and Ginny were playing while the others watched,Hermione entered their compartment again.

"Oh, are you not changed yet? I expect we'll be arriving soon, and it won't do if you're still in your muggle clothes."

"Why is that any of your business?" Ron asked Hermione.

"I only came in here because some people are acting very childishly, racing up and down the corridors," Hermione said in a stiff voice and left.

"Whatever house I'm get sorted into, I hope she's not in it." Ron said, just as the card stack exploded in his face, giving him a sooty mustache. Now it was Ginny's turn to laugh.

The conductor's magnified voice sounded throughout the train. "We will be arriving at Hogsmeade Station in five minutes leave your luggage; it will be brought up to school separately."

They quickly ate the rest of their candy, and slipped their new Hogwarts robes over their heads as the train slowed down.

Harry and Dudley, followed by the others, gathered around the windows and peered outside{Neville had to stand on his tiptoes to see over his friends}; it was nearly dark, and they could see mountains in the distance.

"We have arrived at Hogsmeade Station. Please make your way in an orderly fashion to the door, and have a pleasant evening." the conductor said.

Luna grabbed Dudley's hand so as to not get lost and he blushed.

"C'mon, Ron," Ginny said, pushing him forward.

Neville patted his pocket, making sure Trevor was still there, and Harry fell in line behind him. Neville tripped over the edge of the lip of the train door, and Harry stumbled over him, both falling out of the train onto a tiny, dark platform.

Harry helped Neville up, and then found where Dudley was standing with Luna. He shivered as a chilly breeze blew through the silent, waiting crowd.

A bobbing light was coming towards them, and they could just make out a very large figure carrying it.

"Firs' years over here, firs' years. Follow me." A giant man came into view; he was at least nine feet tall, was wearing a moleskin overcoat with several pockets, and sported a thick, wild-looking beard.

"All right there, Harry?" the giant man said, peering at him through beetle black eyes under bushy, brown eyebrows.

"Haven't seen you since you were a baby."

"I'm sorry, I don't know who you are," Harry said confusedly, trying to balance himself as older students jostled him on their way past.

"I am Rubeus Hagrid, keeper of the keys and grounds at Hogwarts. You can call me Hagrid. I rescued you from the house that night..." he sniffled and pulled out a pink hankerchief to wipe his eyes.

"Sorry, but it's that sad. Knew yer parents, great people, great people...the good ones always go young.. Anyway, how've ya been, Harry?"

"Not bad, I suppose."

"We could talk more later, I expect you can't wait to get sorted."

Hagrid pushed his way through the wave of first years to get to the front of the group and said, "Follow me," as he lead them down a narrow, slippery path off the side of the platform. The darkness seemed to be closing in on them, and the only thing that punctured the blackness was Hagrid's lamp.

The path was hard to walk on; leaves and twigs crinkled under their feet as they walked on, and Neville tripped three times on tree roots that rose above the ground, yelling out each time as he was afraid he had squashed Trevor, who was still residing in his pocket. Thick trees and bushes lined the path on either side, and the air smelt of pine.

Suddenly, the path took a sharp left turn, and as the group rounded the bend, all of the students gasped in unison at the sight before them, and Hagrid chuckled softly to himself, " That reaction never gets old,".

Looming high up ,framed by the deep purple sky, was Hogwarts Castle, a great stone behemoth with many turrets and towers and windows winking with light. Great black mountains stood like giant watchmen behind the castle, and there was a deep thick forest surrounding it on one side.

"Here we go now, into the boats, no more then four to a boat." Hagrid said, continuing on.

The students suddenly realized that they were standing at the edge of a huge black lake that was separating them from the castle.

"Hurry up now, you lot, into the boats or we'll be late." Hagrid said, gesturing them forwards to where a small fleet of tiny rowboats waited for them along the shore.

Luna eagerly pulled Dudley into a boat after her and they were followed by Neville and Hermione. Ron, Ginny, and Harry climbed into another boat. When everyone was seated, the boats moved out by themselves, all following Hagrid's boat, which was larger than the others, and carrying just him and lamp.

Dudley's boat was the last in the procession, so no one noticed when Neville fell into the water except those in the boat with him; everyone was too busy looking forward at the castle, and didn't give the direction that they came from a second glance.

Neville was leaning over the edge of the rowboat, looking down at the water in awe, and leaned over a little too far; he fell in with a loud splash, and Dudley, Luna, and Hermione turned around at the sound.

"Neville!" Dudley said. "Where'd you go?"

"Help, I can't swim!" Neville's pale face stood out above the dark water. He was splashing wildly with one hand and holding Trevor high above the chilly water with the other.

"Grab my hand!" Dudley reached out to grab Neville, but suddenly, a great white tentacle with hundreds of tiny purple suckers burst up out of the water, breaking the surface with waves and ripples.

"Do something, quick!" Luna cried. " Krackens love the taste of human flesh!"

Neville let out a terrified squeak, and started paddling frantically away from the tentacle, but it swiftly grabbed him, and threw him back into the boat.

Neville sat there on the wooden bench, stunned and shivering, while water dripped off him, and watched as the tentacles slid silently back into the depths of the lake. He was holding Trevor so tightly that the toad's eyes were popping.

"You bloody boys, always so clumsy." Hermione said disapprovingly as she pulled her wand out of her robes and performed a quick charm that instantly dried Neville's clothes and left them steaming in the chilly air.

"Oh, Neville, you were lucky you didn't get eaten. But didn't you notice the wupples before you jumped in?" Luna shook her head sadly, dirty blonde hair swinging from side to side.

"They don't like humans very much, and now you've upset them." Luna pointed to the water, at creatures that only she could see.

Dudley stared at her; she really was very unique.

Luna waved goodbye to her invisible friends as the boat continued on its way.

They finally reached the opposite bank twenty minutes later. As soon as their boat bumped against the shore, Neville jumped out onto dry land and gave a huge sigh of relief.

"I'm never going in that lake again." he said.

The first years trudged up the slope, following Hagrid. As they passed the forest, they could hear howls and animal cries coming from within.

"What do you reckon that is?" Dudley asked Harry.

"I don't know, and I don't want to know" he replied as another blood curdling cry made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

The dew on the vast, lush green lawns left the hems of the student's robes damp as they traveled across them; and now, finally, they could see the front doors of the castle.

As Dudley climbed the wide stone steps with Harry at his side, he felt a tingle of magic in his extremities and looked at Harry to see if he felt it too.

"That was a weird feeling," Harry whispered to him.

The students gathered around Hagrid on the steps, and he waited until everyone was there before he pounded on the great oak front doors three times.

The large crowd of first years were totally silent as they all stared at the doors; all that could be heard were small noises of nervous breathing. Within a few moments, the door was opened by a very stern looking older witch wearing a red robes and a pointed hat.

"Professor Mcgonagall, the firs' years,"

"You're a bit late, Hagrid," she said sternly, peering up at him through her square black glasses. "I'll take them from here."

Hagrid bowed his head at Professor Mcgonagall, and motioned the students forward. He gave Harry a clap on the back as he passed, and almost knocking him over, if it wasn't for Dudley grabbing his arm before he fell.

As Harry and Dudley followed the crowd through the doors and entered Hogwarts, they felt as if their whole lives they had been waiting for this, even though for Dudley it was only a couple of months. All the conversations they had had at home about how they thought Hogwarts was going to look paled in comparasion to the real thing. It was fantastic, unbelievable, magnificent!

"Wow," Harry whispered, eyes wide while he took in eveything that he could see where he was standing behind the others.

A wave of emotions rolled over Dudley; happiness, anger, ansd sadness. Happy because he was finally at Hogwarts, anger at his father for not wanting him to experience such a wonderful adventure, and sadness, because his mother never got to see Hogwarts.

"Move along, children," Mcgonagall called. and they all moved further into the entrance hall.

The entrance hall was huge. Dudley could hardly see the high ceiling, and there were suits of armors standing along the stone walls. They creaked as if they were moving, but there was no face beneath the shiny metal helmet. Torches with bright, hot flames lit the hall where they were attached to the wall with heavy iron brackets.

Professor Mcgonagall stopped in front of a pair of double doors to their right.

"Behind these doors is where you will take all of your meals. It is also where you are about to be Sorted in a few minutes time. The Sorting is an important ceremony, because while you are here at Hogwarts, your house will be your family. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room. The four houses are called Griffindor, Sllytherin, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, which are named after the four great founders of this school." she cleared her throat and continued. "While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn you house points, while any rule-breaking will lose you house points. At the end of the year, the house cup is awarded to the house with the most points. I hope each of you will do your best to be an attribute to the house you are placed in. The ceremony will begin in a few moments; I will retrieve you when we are ready."

Professor Mcgonagall straightened her hat and left.

"How exactly are we sorted?" Dudley asked, never thinking about this before.

"Some sort of test, I think. Fred said it hurts a lot, but he was probably joking. I hope." Ron said, trying to avoid thinking of painful ways that could be used to Sort them, but failing, and wincing at the visions that appeared in his head.

"I heard that you have to catch fresh water plimplies with your bare hands," Luna said, popping into the conversation.

"Oh, don't be ridiculous," Hermione said snappishly; she did not like Luna much because she believed in things that just couldn't possibly exist.

"How are you, Harry, Dudley?" Draco was suddenly appeared behind them, holding out his hand for Harry and Dudley to shake.

"I like your hair," Luna said dreamily. "It's very blonde, almost like the color of a lemon."

"Thank you. It's hereditary." Draco replied politely, although he was confused at first by this strange compliment; he'd never had anyone tell him his hair was like a lemon before.

"You're a Malfoy!" Ron spat suddenly, after taking in Draco's appearance when he heard Luna's comment.

"Yes, I am. And what's it to you?" Draco said haughtily. "I'm not at all like my father, if that's what you're thinking, so don't judge me because of my relations before you've even had the pleasure of getting to know me."

Ron gave him a look, and started to respond, but the professor had returned.

"Please form an orderly line. The Sorting will now be starting in the Great Hall."

Dudley's stomach dropped; this was it.

"I hope we're in the same house." Dudley said quietly to Harry.

"I hope so, too, but who knows how this Sorting works?" Harry said.

Professor Mcgonagall swished her wand, and the double door to the Great Hall flew open.

"Follow me," she said, and proceeded through.

It was the most magnificent sight Dudley and Harry had ever seen. Instead of a ceiling, there was the sky, black, spotted with tiny white stars.

"It's bewitched to look like the sky outside," Dudley heard Hermione say behind him. "I read about it in "Hogwarts: a history'."

There were four long tables, and above each one was a different banner; gold and scarlet with a lion, silver and emerald green with a serpent, black and yellow with a badger, and grey and blue with a raven. Dudley guessed these banners represented the different houses.

The other older students were all seated at the tables, waiting for the Sorting to begin, and in front of them the tables were laid with gold goblets and plates.

Candles floated in mid-air above the tables, the flickering light reflecting off the first year's terrified faces.

In front of the four house tables, there was the teacher's table, where all the professors were sitting. At the center of the other teachers, sitting in the middle of the table in a high backed chair, was a very old man with a long white beard and twinkling blue eyes.

"That's Albus Dumbledore," Hermione whispered. "Some say he's the greatest headmaster this school has ever seen."

"Will you please be quiet? We don't need a running commentary," Ron said, annoyed, and Hermione frowned at him, but fell silent.

As they walked past the house tables and formed a long row in front of the teachers table, facing the other students, Proffessor Mcgonagall placed a short four-legged stool in front she laid a very old, very dirty, battered, patched pointed black hat on top of it, and stood aside.

The room suddenly became eerily quiet as everyone's eyes found the hat.

"What exactly is going on? What are we supposed to do?" Dudley whispered to Harry.

"Why are you asking me?" Harry said. " I have no idea."

Out of nowhere, a deep voice broke the silence, and it was singing. It was the hat; a mouth like slit had opened by the brim, and that's where the voice was coming from. Dudley wondered where the ventriloquist was, and then he remembered, it was magic.

Just then, it really hit him; he was a wizard, a real live wizard! Magic was real. He was going to be doing magic!

"Harry, I'm actually a wizard!" Dudley said, smiling crazily.

Harry gave him a strange look.

"Well, of course you're a wizard." Luna said, like this was the most obvious thing in the world. "You can't be a witch, you're a boy!"Then she turned back to listen to the Sorting Hat's song.

**"I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat.**

**I look inside your head**

**and tell you where you ought to be.**

**There's nothing in your brain**

**that can be hidden from me.**

**You might be a Gryffindor,**

**where dwell the brave at heart.**

**Their daring, nerve and chivalry**

**set Gryffindors apart.**

**You might belong in Hufflepuff**

**where they are just and loyal.**

**Those Hufflepuffs are true**

**and unafraid of toil.**

**Maybe Ravenclaw?**

**If you are of a ready mind!**

**Where those of of great wit and learning**

**will always find thir kind.**

**Or perhaps, Slytherin?**

**You'll make your real friends.**

**Those cunning folk use any means**

**to achieve their ends.**

**So put me on, don't be afraid**

**and don't get in a flap.**

**You're in safe hands, though I have none**

**for I'm a thinking cap!"**

Dumbledore started clapping when the hat finished, and everyone followed his lead. Fred and George Weasley could be heard yelling, "Encore! Encore!"

Dudley stomach butterflies weren't as bad as they were a minute ago. All they to do was try on the hat to be sorted, that wasn't too bad. And Ron was going on about painful tests.

Professor Mcgonagall said, as she untied a long roll of parchment, "When I call your came, come up and try on the hat. It will announce your house and you will then join your fellow housemates at your house table."

She began calling out names.

"Abbott, Hannah!"

A short girl stumbled forward out of the line, and placed the hat on her head. It paused for a moment, then shouted, "HUFFLEPUFF!"

The Hufflepuff table, which was the one with the black and yellow banner, clapped as Hannah joined them.

The Hufflepuffs cheered again as "Bones, Susan!" also became a Hufflepuff, and then "Boot, Terry!" became the first Ravenclaw.

Mcgonagall continued calling names. Sometimes the hat would only take a second to decide, yelling out which house the student would be a part of as soon as it touched their head, but with other students it would take a long while to decide, contemplating which house would fit the student best.

"Brown, Lavender!" became a Gryffindor, and "Bulstrode, Millicent!" became a Slytherin.

"You're up next." Luna said to Dudley. "If we don't go to the same house, I hope I see you around the school." She smiled, and gave him a soft peck on the cheek as Mcgonagall called "Dursley, Dudley!"

Dudley froze. This was it. Harry pushed him towards the stool and he walked over to it, sat down, and placed the hat on his head. It slipped over his eyes, which was a relief, so he didn't have to see all the eyes staring at him.

The hat smelt like old fabric and sweat{from all the generations of nevous first years who tried on the hat before him, he thought}.

"Well, well, what do we have here? I see lots of wit. Interested in potions, too, are you? That's good... a keen mind, a thirst for knowledge that you can never seem to quench..." a small voice said in his ear.

Dudley stayed silent as he waited for the hat's decision.

"RAVENCLAW!"

Dudley pulled the hat off, and started over to the Ravenclaw table. Harry gave him a thumbs up as he sat down, while people clapped him on the back and introduced themselves, welcoming him to their house.

"Granger, Hermione!"

The annoying bushy-haired girl became a Gryffindor and Ron groaned where he was standing next to Harry.

Neville went up, and Trevor slipped out of pocket and hopped between the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables.

Neville ran to catch him out of habit, and returned to the stool looking foolish, while the Slytherins laughed cruelly at him.

He became a Gryffindor too.

Luna was after Neville, and when her name was called, she waved at the crowd and blew kisses at them before placing the Sorting Hat on her head.

"RAVENCLAW!"

Luna skipped over to sit next to Dudley and gave him a hug.

"Montier, Levina" became a Slytherin and then it was Draco Malfoy's turn. Harry saw him cross his fingers behind his back after he put on the hat.

"RAVENCLAW!"

Draco walked proudly to the Ravenclaw table with his head held high, and said under his breath, "Take that, Father...told you I wouldn't be a Slytherin..."

There were only a few people left now in front of Harry... he was getting nervous...

His heart leapt into his throat when "Potter, Harry!" sounded throughout the Great Hall.

"Please, put him in my house!" Ginny whispered to herself, crossing her fingers while she stared at the boy with the messy jet black hair and the brilliant green eyes, and smiled at him.

The hall fell silent for a moment as people registered Harry's name.

Here we go again, Harry thought as he walked to the stool. The whispers began {Harry Potter did she say? Harry Potter? The Boy Who Lived? } as he slipped the hat onto his head, and the thick black fabric mercifully blocked out all the whispers.

The hat mumbled to itself, "Difficult, difficult..." and Harry was reminded of Mr. Olivander when Harry was choosing his wand.

After a moment,the hat said in his ear, "Better be...GRYFFINDOR!" and last word was shouted to the whole hall.

Harry hopped off the stool to the loudest applause of any of the other sorted students, and he heard Ron's twin brothers yelling, "We got Potter! We got Potter!" as he sat down next to Neville and Trevor.

It was Thomas, Dean's turn, who became a Gryffindor, and then there was just Ginny and Ron and a dark-haired, olive-skinned boy left.

"Weasley, Ginny!"

Ginny was very pale as the hat sat on her head for a moment, thinking.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

All at once the color rushed back to her face and she whispered to the hat, "Thank you for putting me in Gryffindor with Harry!" before she joined the other Gryffindors.

A moment later Ron followed her. Fred and George were whistling, and Fred said,"Aww, ickle Ronnikins, you look a bit bit green!"

"Shut up!" he said, as another red-haired boy, who Harry suspected was Percy Weasley, clapped Ron and Ginny on the back and said, "Well done, both of you. Now, I don't want you two behaving like Fred and George. This school doesn't need another pair of delinquent Weasley twins."

"Hey, we're not delinquents!" Fred and George said as the black haired boy, "Zabini, Blaise!", became a Slytherin, and the hat and stool were whisked away; the Sorting was complete.

Dudley suddenly realized he was starving... he looked down at the empty gold plates with longing.

"Don't worry, Dudley," Luna said, noticing this. "Just wait a moment. Watch."

Dumbledore stood up,and said, "Congratulations to all of you in your new houses. Here's to a safe and wonderful school year." he raised his gleaming goblet, which was empty just a second before, but now was full.

Dudley looked down at the table; it was covered in every kind of food you could imagine.

"See, I told you to wait. One must only be patient to reap the reward of waiting." Luna said, scooping some peas onto her plate.

Dudley felt a little twinge of sadness as he looked up from his chicken pie over at Harry sitting at the Gryffindor table.. he half wished he was sitting next to Harry, sharing jokes about the teacher with the funny looking turban. They had always done everything together.

But, he thought, looking around, there was a sense of belonging here that he had never felt anywhere else. Who cared what his father thought? And he'd make his mother proud of him. He thought about how badly his mother had wanted to go to Hogwarts when she was a girl, and how ironic it was that he was a wizard. I will live life to the fullest, I'll learn everything I can, and then I'll do something amazing, he thought fiercely. And I'll have my new friends to help me.

He looked at Draco, who was stuffing his face with mashed potatoes, and Luna{maybe she would be more then a friend?}who was daintily pulling grapes off their stems and building a pyramid with them to ward off stykes that fluttered around. Dudley smiled at her, watching her hair shine in the candlelight as she explained about how the stykes hated fruit of all times, but mostly grapes, and it was good to ward them off because they would steal your quills and use them for their nests...

Harry caught Dudley's eye as he looked at him, Ron, Ginny, Neville and Hermione and mouthed, "Can you believe it? We're HERE!" Harry gave him a smile and a nod, then turned back to Ron who was poking him, and holding up a piece of chicken.

Yes, these next few years were certainly going to be interesting...Dudley couldn't even begin to imagine what adventures lied ahead in the future.

**I might do some seperate stories about adventures Harry and Dudley have had at Hogwarts. I'll going to do an epilogue, too. **

**Harry and Dudley want REVIEWS! So please review! **


	10. Epilouge

**Harry, oh, Harry, I wish you mine, but you're not. :(**

**Thanks to everybody:**

**for story alert: otvet1269, ChopSuzi, jaws12801, Neville'sEctopia, ospreyEmblem, Honoria Granger**

**for author alert: blackphoenix23, saissister, Little Miss Lovable, Mickiecuteknight, Honoria Granger, Silveus Snape**

**for fav story: slytherinprincess233031**

**for fav author: Mickiecuteknight**

**for reviewing: Neville'sEctopia, Honoria Granger, ChopSuzi, and Guests**

Harry and Ginny entered King's Cross Station with their three children, Albus Severus, who was ten, James Sirius, who was eleven, and Lily Luna, who was eight. Harry was pushing a cart with James' Hogwarts trunk. James was very excited; he kept talking about quidditch, which house he was going to be in, and what the lessons would be like.

"Hey, guys!" Neville, was running towards them, carrying a briefcase and a suitcase.

"Neville!" Ginny said, and gave him a hug.

"I was almost late; Gran couldn't decide if she wanted scrambled or fried eggs," Neville said, rolling his eyes.

"Are you nervous?" Harry asked.

"A bit. I mean, my first year as Herbology professor? I hope I do okay." Neville said.

"You'll do fine," Ginny placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"I know I'll like your lessons, Neville. You've taught me, Lily and Albus so much about plants already that I know everyone else will learn a lot from you too!" James said.

"Aww, James, you're so sweet," Ginny said, and Albus laughed.

"Did you hear that? You're sweet." Albus said.

James scowled at him, and muttered, "Why do I even say anything?"

"Well, I appreciate it, James," Neville said, ruffling his hair. "Shall we cross the barrier than? It's almost that time."

Harry leaned down and his three children gathered around him.

"Okay kids, this is going to be the most spectacular sight you'll ever see; the Hogwarts Express. She's a beauty. All we have to do is walk through the wall between platforms nine and ten, and we'll come out on the other side."

"Won't we crash into the wall?" Albus asked nervously.

"Of course not! Here, we'll all go through together." Harry said. "Lily, climb aboard."

Lily hopped onto her father's back in piggyback style.

"Whoo, whoo! All aboard the Hogwarts Express!"

Harry and Lily often played Hogwarts Express at home, Harry pretending to be the train, and Lily sitting on his back. They would go through the house, then arrive at Hogsmeade Station,{the bedroom}where Harry would dump Lily off onto the bed. Then they would cross the lake,{a kiddie pool in the backyard} and go on to the Great Hall, {the kitchen} where the house elves, a.k.a. Ginny, had cooked them a wonderful meal. Needless to say, Lily was the one who wanted to see the Hogwarts Express the most.

"James, hold onto the cart. C'mon Albus, get on the other side. Ready? Let's go."

They started running at the wall, then disappeared to the other side.

Ginny was laughing.

"I swear, Neville, every time Harry talks about Hogwarts, he's like a kid himself again."

Neville and Ginny passed through the barrier and walked over to where Harry and the kids were standing, staring at the Express.

"Isn't is just magnificent?" Harry whispered over his shoulder to Lily.

"Oh, Daddy, it's the prettiest thing ever!" Lily said in awe.

"No, you're the prettiest thing ever. No offense to your mother." Harry said lifting Lily off his back. Lily giggled

and Ginny said,"No offense taken."

Harry waved his holly wand through the air, and conjured a beautiful white lily, which he placed in his daughter's hair.

"Isn't it amazing?" Albus said to James.

"Yes. and you have to wait another year to go on it!" James said.

"Let's get your trunk on, James. It's almost time to go." After Harry helped James load his trunk into one of the compartments, they got back off the train, and went back to the others.

Ron, Hermione, and Draco had arrived.

"Yes, it was a rather nasty divorce," Draco was saying. "But that woman was insane! And I don't care as long as I have Scorpius." Draco smiled at his son, who was standing proudly next to his father in his new black Hogwarts robes.

"Hey Harry!" Ron had spotted him.

Hermione gave Harry a hug, and said,"Hi, James!"

"What are you doing here? Hugo and Rose aren't going to Hogwarts this year." Harry said.

"No but I'll be going next year, and Hugo will be going in two years!" Rose said.

"We came to see James, Scorp, and Petunia off." Ron explained.

"Speaking of Petunia, where are they? They're going to miss the train!" Harry said.

"Well, you have to consider it probably takes them a while to get everybody together, having so many kids." Ginny shuddered. "I'm glad we only have three!"

Suddenly, a big group of people appeared out of the wall.

"Finally! We thought you weren't coming." Harry yelled.

"Yeah, well, it takes a while to get this lot in the car." Dudley replied.

He was pushing Petunia's cart and carrying Tillie, who was three and had a pudgy dimpled face, while Petunia silently walked besides him. She was eleven; a small quiet girl with long brown hair and big brown eyes. Behind Dudley were the twins, who were pushing their own carts, Zara Raven, and Dorian Tobias. They were 13, had short blonde hair, and had their matching black guitars slung over their shoulders. Then Luna appeared, holding the newborn, Maisie Rainbow, in her arms while Autumn Willow{who was 9, had short dark brown hair, and blue eyes} and Phoenix Lyra{ who was 6 years old, loved to sing, and had streaks of red in her blonde hair} held tight to her bright pink skirt.

"Hello, everyone." Luna said to the group.

"How's Maisie?" Ginny asked, peeking at the baby snuggled in the nest of blankets.

Maisie yawned and opened her blue eyes.

"Oh, she's very well." Luna said.

"We're getting on the train," Zara and Dorian yelled to their parents. "See you at Christmas!"

They dragged their trunks aboard and found a compartment near the window, and a minute later their friends Zacharias and Beatrix joined them and they started whispering together.

"Alright, Luna I'm going to help Petunia with her trunk." Dudley wheeled the cart over to the train lugged the trunk up the stairs and put it in one of the compartments.

His daughter was waiting for him, sniffling by the cart.

"What's the matter? Are you okay?" Dudley said, going over to her. She put her face into his jacket and mumbled.

"I can't hear you, sweetie," he said, sitting down on the cart and pulling her onto his lap.

"I'm afraid. I want to stay here with you, Daddy."

"What are you afraid of? You're going to have lots of fun at Hogwarts! You'll see. Don't worry. We'll see you at Christmas."

"What if nobody likes me? What if I'm no good at anything?" Petunia cried.

"Oh, Petunia, how could anybody not like you?" he gave her a kiss on her forehead.

"And if you need to talk to somebody, go to Neville, he'll help you. And you'll have Zara and Dorian, and even James and Scorpius! They'll watch out for you."

"I don't care! I want to stay with you and Mum!"

The train whistle sounded. Dudley looked back to where his friends were standing. James was hugging Harry goodbye. And then he and Scorpius headed over to the train with Neville behind them. Luna handed Maisie to Ginny, and came over to where Dudley and Petunia were sitting.

"She doesn't want to go," Dudley whispered to his wife.

James climbed up into the train and said, "Bye, everyone! See you for Christmas!"

Scorpius stood next to Petunia and said, "C'mon, are you're all ready to go, Petunia?"

He was especially good at sensing peoples emotions, and he could tell Petunia was upset.

"I'm not going! Nobody is going to like me!"

"You'll make friends in no time!" Neville said. "When I first got to Hogwarts I thought nobody was going to like me either, but then I met your uncle Harry and aunt Ginny, and Ron, and Hermione. We were all in Gryffindor."

Neville stuck out his hand for her to take and gave her a smile. "Let's go, Petunia! It's going to be my first time at Hogwarts as a teacher too, and I'm nervous. But sometimes you have to take chances, even if you're afraid. And then you'll find out that there was no reason to be afraid, because it all works out!"

"C'mon, Petunia." Scorpius pleaded.

"Go on," Dudley said, hugging Petunia tightly and standing her on her feet. Luna gave her a kiss and said, "Everything will be fine! Just write to us if you need anything."

And she got on the train, Scorpius holding her left hand and Neville holding her right.

"She didn't want to go?" Harry was standing next to Dudley.

"No, she was afraid no one is going to like her."

"Well it worked out for us, didn't it?" Harry said. "It was the only place we belonged."

The four families stood together in one big group, and waved at their children on the train as it pulled out. Petunia had her face pressed against the window, and mouthed, 'I love you Daddy!' Neville was sitting with her, and so were James and Scorpius.

Dudley must've looked very worried, because Luna kissed him and said, "She'll be fine, Dudley."

They turned around, counted the kids to make sure they were all there and the families headed back toward the barrier.

"Just think," Rose said. "When we see that train next year, I'm going to be boarding it!"

"And me too!" Albus said.

Harry and Dudley glanced over their shoulders for one last look at the end of the scarlet locomotive as it rounded the bend.

"Even after you leave, the Hogwarts experience never really ends," Harry said to Dudley, as they listened to Rose and Albus chat excitedly about going to Hogwarts next year.

**I'll say it yet again...PLEASE REVIEW!**


	11. Chapter 11

So I wrote two companion stories to this one. I didn't want to publish them after the epilogue. If I was smart, I would've waited to write the epilogue, but this was my first fanfiction and I didn't really know what I was doing.

So these are the two stories:

**Friday Night**

**Will you go out with me?**

I'll probably write some more if I get an inspiration, but for right now I'm addicted to Severus/Lily, so please enjoy these!

**Ciao!**


	12. First Potions Class

**I don't own Harry Potter.**

**I'm probably going to be adding oneshots onto this story if I think of any ideas. But they might not come quickly, as I'm working on other things. **

**Anyway, enjoy this tidbit!**

FIRST POTIONS CLASS

"I am Professor Snape." the man said as he entered the dungeon classroom. The professor brought with him such a dark aura when he came into the room that everyone became quiet right away.

"As this is the first class for you first year Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs, we will starting off rather simple, although I hope you do better then the usual dunderheads that I have to teach." Professor Snape glared at them with his black eyes.

Dudley shivered as those cold eyes passed over him. He was looking forward to Potions class the most, but he wished they had a teacher that didn't make him feel so uncomfortable.

Draco, who was sitting next to Dudley, nudged his arm.

"He's creepy, isn't he?" Draco whispered.

"Don't be mean, he's probably just misunderstood, is all!" Luna said.

"Today we will be brewing a very easy pimple curing potion." Snape continued.

He waved his wave, and a piece of chalk began writing the directions to the potion on the board.

"Read the directions carefully. Even the smallest mistake could cause the most detrimental results." Snape sat behind his desk.

"The ingredients are in the cupboard," he pointed to a large wooden cupboard in the corner of the dungeon room.

"You have one hour. You may begin now."

Draco was struggling with the instructions, and kept forgetting which step he was on, but Dudley was having no problem at all.

As Snape walked around the dungeon, surveying everybody's work, he stopped in front of Dudley's cauldron and said, "For a first year, you are doing quite well, Mr. Dursley. See to it that it stays that way."

"Oh, you see, Draco?" Luna said, adding a pinch of powdered calendula to her potion. "He's not so bad, he just complimented Dudley on his work."

"That was a compliment?" Draco said, wiping his sweaty face.

At the end of the hour, Snape drawled, "Everybody stop your work, and stand back from your cauldrons, so I can check your potions."

Snape looked into each cauldron as he passed, and through out nasty comments every so often.

"Mr. Malfoy, very poor job. This potion would cause pimples, not cure them."

Draco had a sour look on his face as he glared at the Professor's back as he checked Terry Boot's potion.

"Mr. Dursley, you did well. The potion is perfect. Five points to Ravenclaw."

Luna smiled as Snape looked into her cauldron and said, "Acceptable." and moved on.

"I absolutely hate Potions," Draco said later as they left the classroom.

"Just because you didn't do well in the first class, Draco, doesn't mean that you should give up!" Luna said encouragingly. "And it seems that Dudley is very good, so maybe he could help you."

"It was only the first class, Luna." Dudley said modestly. "It wasn't even a very complicated Potion, either."

"Oh, I believe you have a knack for Potions, Dudley, I can feel it." Luna smiled.

"You really think so?" Dudley asked seriously.

"Yes, I do." Luna said. "Now let's hurry up and get to dinner, because I'm hungry. I wonder if they have plimpie soup?"

Luna grabbed Dudley hand and pulled him along.

"Hello? Did you guys forget about me?" Draco said indignantly, walking quickly to catch up to them.

While they were eating dinner in the Great Hall, Harry came over and sat next to Dudley.

"Are you allowed to be over here?" Draco asked, glancing up at the High Table.

"What are they going to do to me? Give me detention for sitting at the wrong table?" Harry was in quite a bad mood.

"Harry, what's wrong?" Luna said with a worried look on her face. "The Werrywerts didn't pay you a visit, did they?"

"No," Harry sighed. "It was the Potions teacher, Snape. He seriously has to be sacked. He's horrible!"

"He's not that bad," Dudley said.

"Yes, he even awarded Dudley five points for his potion." Luna said proudly.

"Well, he has something against me, then, I suppose." Harry said. "Snape kept going on about how I'm the new 'celebrity'. Then he made me out to be a stupid git when I couldn't answer the questions he asked me. He took away five points for every question I couldn't answer. And Snape was very nasty to Neville, too, when Neville exploded his cauldron."

"Maybe he just has something against Gryffindors," Draco smirked.

"Oh, but Draco, he didn't like your potion, either," Luna pointed out.

"Maybe he just hates everybody," Harry offered.

"We should start a petition to get him sacked," Draco said to Harry.

"That's a good idea, do you have any parchment with you?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, right here," Draco pulled a piece of parchment from his pocket.

"Don't do that, guys, you'll get in trouble." Dudley warned. "Do you want to get expelled? I guarantee if you get on the bad side of Snape, he will find a way to get you expelled."

"Harry, I think you should go back to your table," Luna whispered, looking down the aisle between the tables.

Snape was coming towards them. Harry jumped up and hurried back to the Gryffindor table. Snape passed them, but glared in Harry's direction before continuing on to the Slytherin table.

"I think he does hate Harry," Draco said to Dudley. "Did you see how he was looking at him? I would really hate to be Harry."

The bell rang for the end of lunch and everybody filed out to head out to their next classes.

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